Burnt Offerings
by SarahSmiles222
Summary: Part 3. Klaus and Caroline have survived a serious attack against his life. Is their newfound happiness strong enough to survive the constant threat against him? They have a new enemy and struggle to protect a child that is the key to peace between the species, all the while fighting off constant threats. Rated M for strong sexual themes and murder. ****May cause triggers.
1. Chapter 1

_**AN: So we are at day one of the search for the white oak stakes. Klaus is being extremely kind and warm hearted, but remember what the old witch said. 'The darkness will always try to make an appearance' or something like that. He's won Caroline over…or so he thinks. Can anyone say honeymoon period? Look for difficulties start to creep up a little later. Maybe a temporary return of Dark Klaus. :)**_

 _I do not own the Vampire Diaries or Originals Characters. I own the story. ****Note: This story contains themes of an adult nature, including and not limited to rape, murder, kidnapping, domination, submission and more. If you are uncomfortable with themes of this nature, please do not read. This is part 3 of a series following 'The Dead of Winter' and 'The Blood Rose'. This story may cause triggers and is rated M for intense sexual situations, death, domination and more.*****_

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

They were all gathered around the table, having finished brunch. There was a feeling of gratefulness in the air that no one had died during the attempt to take out Klaus. For now, everything was good.

Klaus cleared his throat. "So we have a situation, which I've made Kol and Bonnie aware of." Everyone in the room was silent, assuming he was talking about the white oak stakes that may or may not be out in the world.

Elijah concentrated on his younger brother. "Brother what is it?"

"I think that our mother is in our midst again." Concern crossed Elijah and Rebekah's face. They were still but it was apparent that the news was very shocking to them.

"How do you know that Nik?" Rebekah demanded.

"Because my _friend_ Claire told me right before she tried to transfer my body and stake me. She said that she knew of a witch that wanted me dead, _obviously apart from her_. Exactly how many witches do we know that can manifest that kind of power? Now we can take the chance that she was talking about some random witch that got lucky enough to manifest that much power. However, as I tend to like to air on the side of caution, I'm going to assume it's our mother. Call it intuition."

"Why does your mother want to kill you?"

"Well love that is a very good question. You see our mother, Esther…that's her name, turned us into vampires and then upon doing that almost immediately regretted it. After my brother Henrik was killed, she grew frantic with worry that another one of her children would be taken, as Freya and Henrik were, so she enacted a ritual to make us immortal. No one, including her, foresaw the consumption of blood or the effect that it would have upon us. While our mother was a very powerful witch, she could not undo the spell or stop it's consequences. There is always a consequence to magic. To further add to her worries, my werewolf gene would make me beyond powerful if it ever were allowed to manifest, so she did an additional spell to suppress that, however, I broke that spell years later. She was obsessed with killing us then and I tore her heart out. However, I do believe one way or another she has found her way back and I believe she assisted Claire with the magic that she was doing."

Caroline swallowed hard. Imagine having a mother who wanted you dead. How does that happen? Granted Klaus was a little hard to love in general but maybe his mother and father both being homicidal maniacs added some clue as to why.

"Okay, so Klaus, I've been thinking about this. I found a spell in Emily Bennett's grimoire that is a locator spell and I think it's specific to white oak stakes."

Klaus' interest was piqued. "Why would you think that?"

"Well…" she lay the grimoire on the table. "…because it looks exactly like the stake that Claire had when she tried to stake you." Klaus took the book and looked at the hand drawn picture on the page.

So there was a locator spell. "Do we have everything we need?"

She raised her eyebrow, "Yeah I think so. It requires some runes, salt and a powerful witch."

"Well aren't we lucky to have you Miss Bennett?" He grinned like he was the most charming man in the world, and well he might have a point there.

"Yes." She said matter-of-factly. "You are lucky." Kol laughed out loud practically spitting out his coffee.

"Let's go upstairs shall we?" Klaus stood.

"Klaus, Nadia and I are going to leave if you have no more use for us."

"Yes, Klaus I should be going as well. I have a city to run." Marcel added.

"Of course. Thank you all for your support. It was appreciated." He stopped to say goodbye to his friends before they departed. Everyone else filed upstairs into Klaus's bedchamber. On the way, he stopped one of his house assistants. "Please have the coffins removed from the study and move my office in there. I'd also like you to make an appointment with a decorator. It would be preferable if it was a little brighter than it currently is."

Caroline laughed to herself, _what the staff must think when he gives requests like that_. It still seemed odd to her that everyone just ignored everything that went on here. She thought she would never be okay with a coffin room though. Klaus caught her eyes. "It's soundproof love. After our last situation, it's a better choice." She nodded at him as they headed into his bedchamber.

Bonnie used the table to lay out the spell, first pouring salt on the table and then drawing a triangle in it. She used the stone as a conductor, as she started repeating the incantation. " _L'arme filium. Pa kenbe ex oculus. Indi. L'arme filium. Pa kenbe ex oculus. Indi. L'arme filium. Pa kenbe ex oculus. Indi._ " A brief gust of wind blew through the room, as Bonnie's eyes rolled backwards. She seemed to be in some kind of psychic possession. It didn't take long for her to come back this time though, she opened her eyes. "Okay, I have the location of the first white oak stake. It's in New Orleans."

"And the others?" Klaus pressed.

"It only shows us one at a time. Ever heard the quote….'Absolute power corrupts absolutely'. It's a failsafe for the spirits. So yah, we need to go to New Orleans. Klaus, locating these could take awhile."

"Thank you Bonnie." He smiled appreciatively at her, which warmed Caroline's heart. "Who is joining us in New Orleans? Meet us in the foyer in twenty minutes." Klaus was all business today. Klaus went to the intercom to have his assistant pack for him, to which Caroline got strangely possessive about. He noticed but it let it go.

Everyone decided to tag along except Elijah and Hayley. Although Elijah did tell Klaus that if something came up that he knew how to reach him. Klaus nodded and everyone else left to pack.

Caroline was the first one in the foyer waiting, soon followed by Rebekah, Kol and Bonnie. Klaus was the last to make it down the stairs. He had to make few calls to his business assistant to make sure that she was okay handling all his businesses in Chicago while he was gone. His businesses, some illegal, consisted of a number of legitimate businesses as well. Most of his involvement was from an Executive Board position but his control was no less there.

Corralling everyone to the car, they were soon headed towards the airport. Klaus texted Marcel, who had just taken off and let him know they were right behind him. The plane soon departed Chicago, headed towards New Orleans. Klaus looked at Caroline, who was looking at her phone. "Klaus I want to call my mom when we land."

"Of course love, whatever you need to do." His hand was covering hers lightly. A couple of hours later, they touched down in NOLA and headed for Marcel's. Caroline headed straight up to Klaus' room, without even asking where she was sleeping, to which he smiled. Nervously, she dialed her mother's number.

The phone rang and she smiled from ear to ear when her mother answered. "Mom?"

"Caroline? Is that you? Caroline where have you been? I've been so worried. I've looked everywhere." Her voice was frantic as if they would lose connection at any moment.

"Mom, I know and I'm sorry. I'm okay. It's hard to explain everything that has happened, but know that I'm okay and I'm not in any trouble. I promise I won't disappear like that again." Her voice was shaking. She felt as if her world was spinning and felt a sudden pang to be back in Mystic Falls.

"Oh-ohhh okay. Where are you? Are you sure you are okay? When are you coming home?"

"I'm in New Orleans right now. I was in Chicago. Yes, I'm okay. I promise. This is my number. You can call me any time. I'll try to come home as soon as I can. I met someone. He's complicated."

Her mom laughed. "Oh dear, most men are complicated. Look at your father." For the first time, Caroline laughed. Her father, as much as she loved him, spent ten years married to her mother, when he came out as being gay. He was happy now, living in another city with his long time partner. She didn't really care that he was gay, but she knew it hurt her mother immensely when it happened.

"So how are you?"

"Oh you know me, I've been working a lot, spending at least part of that time looking for you. I lost you in Chicago. I had tracked you to a club but after that nothing. I found out you quit school. Lately, I've just been working and I started seeing a guy."

Perking up…"A guy? That's awesome mom. I'm so glad you met someone."

"It seems we both have. I can't wait to meet your boyfriend."

"I will let you know as soon as I can when we can come home." In her mind, she really didn't know how Klaus would feel about meeting her mom or being called a _boyfriend_.

"Okay. I love you Caroline. Please come home soon."

"I love you too Mom." Well that didn't go as badly as she imagined. It did leave her with the lingering question of when she would be able to see her again. As she walked downstairs, she was still considering how to broach the subject when Klaus came up behind her and folded her into his arms.

"So love how did it go?"

"It was fine." She stood there staring into his eyes. "Klaus?"

"Yes?" He could tell something was on her mind as she looked at him and he was bracing for whatever news she had to bare. In his mind, he was scared that she was going to want to leave and go home, which of course now he'd let her, even though it would kill him and his heart would be shredded with possessiveness.

"I told my mom about you."

His eyes widened and he leaned back to gawk at her.

"I'm sorry, I know I should have asked you first, but I wanted her to know about you and well now…" she chewed her lip "…now she wants to meet you, which I know is weird because you are like a million years old and you'd probably rather not meet my mom but I'd really like it if you did."

A gorgeous smile spread across his face, he was truly flabbergasted. "Caroline…I would be happy to meet your mother, honored even. I'm not quite that old Caroline, at least not yet. It's just right now…"

"Not right now, but after all this is over, maybe we can take a trip there?"

Laying a delicate kiss on her lips, he pulled her close, hugging her to his body. "Yes of course love." Her face immediately transformed to a smile and she kissed him back eagerly. They all assembled in the courtyard after settling in their respective rooms. Bonnie was the first to speak.

"So the first white oak stake is here." She pointed on the map to the Garden District. "I need to go check in on Chloe Rose. The spirits are insisting. Klaus and Caroline, you should go find the stake. We should meet back here in a few hours…sound good?"

"And what am I supposed to do?" Rebekah chimed in, not used to being rendered useless.

"Rebekah, you and Marcel should check in with his contacts in NOLA and see if there are any rumors going around about Claire and the attempt on my life." Knowing full well that if he didn't give his sister an assignment, she would create needless drama and he didn't want to have a bored Rebekah on his hands.

He and Caroline departed for the Garden district. The Garden District was a beautiful area of New Orleans with massive mansions. It was an artistic wonderland of architecture which had been beautifully preserved over the decades. Quite miraculously this district had escaped the horrific flooding of Hurricane Katrina. Caroline was quite taken with the area and its beautiful residences. They pulled up to one of the less cared for mansions in the area. Klaus stepped out of the car, looking up and down the street for any signs of danger. Nothing seemed afoot. So they approached the door and rang the bell.

A woman with long dark hair peeked out through the side window and sighed. Caroline guessed that Klaus was probably the last person most people wanted to see. She opened the door slowly as she stared out the screen. "What do you want?"

Klaus made a move to say something aggressive, but Caroline stepped in front of him. "Hi." She smiled brightly at the woman who had her eyes trained on Klaus. "We aren't here to start any trouble. We received word that you know about a certain white oak stake and we are here to obtain it."

She frowned and pushed the door open. "Come in, but he stays out here." Again, he went to say something.

"Klaus, can I at least find out what she has to say before you threaten her with bodily harm?" Begrudgingly he nodded and took a seat on the porch, while Caroline entered the double doors of the mansion."So why did you let me in and not him? I'm the same thing he is." Caroline said in a flat tone.

"No child you are not the same as him. And while I have no desire to start a fight with the Original family, I also have no desire to let one into my house." She waddled into a sitting room off to the right of the foyer. "Please sit. I'll be right back."

She trotted off to the back of the room and disappeared through a doorway. Several minutes passed before the woman returned with a bundle.

 ** _Bonnie's POV_**

Kol was quiet the entire way to Chloe Rose's house. "What if Claire is here?"

"Kol she doesn't have her power anymore, or any power for that matter. If she even tried to use traveler's magic or expression, the spirits would take her out." Approaching the tiny dwelling, they pushed open the chain link gate and headed towards the door. Bonnie knocked and looked into the eyes of a kind elderly woman. "Hi. I'm Bonnie Ben-"

"Yes I know who you are child. Come in, but he stays out." Bonnie looked back at Kol who was none too pleased about this turn of events. He started to protest.

"He's a friend."

"Oh I know he is, but he's not going to be welcome in most houses in New Orleans. He's an Original vampire." Bonnie turned to him with an apologetic look and he rolled his eyes as he sat on a chair outside the little dwelling.

She followed the old woman into the modestly furnished living room. She saw the baby sitting on the floor, she currently had several stuffed animals dancing in front of her and she was giggling hysterically. At least she was a happy baby, a happy baby that already seemed to have the power of telekinesis. Bonnie was floored by this as she sat down to look at the cheerful toddler. "Hi Chloe Rose." She smiled brightly at her.

The stuffed animals dropped and the baby crawled towards her. "Witch" she gargled and put her pudgy finger in Bonnie's cheek.

"Wow, she really is tuned in."

"Oh yes, child, you don't know the half of it. Keeping up with a magically gifted toddler is challenging. I've been wondering if I can do it all on my own."

"So obviously she has telekinesis and can at the very least recognize other witches. What else can she do?" Bonnie studied the little girl intently.

"Well, she can move things as you've seen, I think she is psychic as well. She has an uncanny ability to know what I'm thinking most of the time and she absolutely knows when people are coming. Of course with her limited speech, it's difficult to know the full extent of her powers, but the spirits are definitely talking to her. She'll have long periods of gurgling responses to some invisible force. She seems to have some new ability every month. Last week, she accidentally set the coffee table on fire." The old woman nodded toward the little table with a huge round burn mark in the middle of it.

"Wow. I didn't have any idea about witchcraft until I was seventeen." She said in wonder of the little girl.

"Well, I fear for her. There are rumors. Of course, no one will tell them to me. But I've heard the spirits talking. Of course as you know, they tend to be fairly secretive and puzzling. The funny thing is, I'm not sure she wouldn't see someone coming a mile away. Why, right before you pulled up, she turned to me and said 'Witch' just as she did when you were sitting there. That was about five minutes before your car drove up." Bonnie gaped at the old woman. "And last week, she said 'Klaus' and 'friend' before your friends showed up. It's the only reason I let them in to be honest. I don't generally let vampires in my house."

"How old is she?"

"She's two and a half."

Suddenly Bonnie remembered Chloe Rose's mom. "Did Claire come back?" The old woman looked hurt and shook her head. All of the sudden a teddy bear came whizzing through the air at Bonnie, not to hurt her, but she looked down at the child who looked very unhappy at the mention of the name. "Did she?"

"She prefers to be called Rose. No she didn't throw it herself, well at least not with her hands. I heard she was back but she didn't even try to see this little one. Rose doesn't like the mention of her mother's name. It breaks my heart the things that woman does." She squeezed her eyes together to hold back the tears. Bonnie felt truly bad for the woman. Although she could tell that the baby was a joy to her, it still had to hurt that your own daughter didn't want to her baby.

"She's truly remarkable. I'm sorry, I didn't get your name…Mrs?" Bonnie had been so enthralled with the child that she didn't even remember to ask her name.

"My name is Cornelia Dubois."

"Well she is truly remarkable, Mrs. Dubois. I know that the Original family is scary, but they are trying to protect Chl…Rose. Klaus has guards watching after her."

The old woman started laughing. "What can Klaus do against a witch? No offense of course, but Chloe is probably much stronger than he is."

Bonnie raised her eyes in agreement. "You are right, but still. It doesn't hurt to have extra help."

"Oh I'm sure you are right Bonnie. To tell the truth, I am probably more scared than Rose. I don't have my powers anymore, at least not to perform spells. I do have the vision though. I can see things."

"Why are you scared?" Bonnie asked while still watching the little girl, who had now gone back to her dancing stuffed animals.

"Well about a month ago, most of the witches that I used to talk to, stopped coming around. I don't know why really. Now, very few people talk to me. I have a feeling it's because of Rose's future. Witches don't want to be controlled and a lot of them can't envision having a truce with vampires and werewolves. It's just a guess."

Bonnie smiled at the woman and got up to leave. She felt compelled to the hug the elderly woman for some reason. The woman showed her to the door to a very impatient Kol, who was standing there tapping his foot.

"What?"

"I don't like being ignored."

"Kol, you heard everything that was said." Bonnie smiled and kissed him on the cheek as they headed back to the car that was waiting for them.

 ** _Caroline/Klaus POV_**

The woman sat on the sofa opposite of Caroline; she leaned over and shoved the bundle towards her. Caroline regarded her as she carefully opened the bundle, in it the white oak stake. She looked at the woman. _Okay that was a little too easy_. Not trusting the woman's motives.

"So you are just giving me the white oak stake?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Look, I don't want no trouble. Claire gave me that for safe-keepin. I heard she's back but I also heard she was startin' a war with the Original family. I don't want no part of that. There's all kinds a trouble brewin."

"What kind of trouble?"

"I told ya I don't wanna be involved. But I can tell you that some of the witches round these parts don't want no part of peace with vampires. They are startin' somethin."

"Can you tell me anything?" Caroline looked at the woman who was obviously not feeling very secure.

"No...but I can give you a name. Her name is Tara." She wrote an address down on a piece of paper and handed it to Caroline.

"Well thanks. I appreciate your help." She smiled at the woman, out of things to say and headed towards the door. The woman followed her to the door and eyed Klaus who was still sitting on the porch looking way too comfortable.

"I gave her what ya'll came lookin for. Don't want no trouble with you. We good?" The woman waited.

He glanced sideways at Caroline, who nodded at him. "We are good." Klaus regarded the woman and started towards the idling Linoln Towncar waiting at the curb. Once inside the car, Klaus raised an eyebrow.

"We'll talk at Marcel's." She slid the bundle at Klaus though who picked it up and looked quickly inside and then covered it back up and stuck it in his jacket.

"One down." He took Caroline's hand and stared out of the window at the passing scenery. By the time they reached the house everyone had returned. Marcel suggested that they talk over dinner, which was moments away from being served.

Klaus offered to join them in a moment, excusing himself with the package that Caroline had given him. She followed everyone else in to the dining room. They all sat and were served a bourbon and were chatting away, when Klaus re-entered the room moments later without the package. "Everyone we located the first of the white oak stakes." Everyone smiled at this news. "Unfortunately, things still seem amiss with Claire."

Bonnie chimed in. "Claire's grandmother seemed genuinely afraid for Rose and she suspects there is a plot afoot."

"We found the same thing," Marcel added.

"So rest assured that there are some witches that are not happy about the species uniting. The witch that gave us the white oak stake, gave us the name of another witch that we are going to go visit tomorrow."

"I don't like it Klaus." Kol mistrusted most things in life. "Witches are not to be trifled with. It's too easy."

"Well, rest assured, Bonnie will do another white oak locator spell. Once we have located all the white oak stakes, we can deal with the threat. Although I hardly think that the rest will be as easy to locate as this one was."

"I still don't like it. It was too easy." Kol added again for emphasis.

"Brother I heard you. I don't take that lightly. But for now, we must worry about one thing at a time."

Caroline had been quiet for awhile. Klaus leaned towards her. "Love are you okay?" The truth was she had been thinking about her mom all day. She didn't realize how much she missed Mystic Falls until she talked to her mom, but now she was stricken with a bout of home sickness. Klaus' eyes clouded over. He could tell something was wrong.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I just drafted the entire story. This has the potential to go on at the end, we'll see. There's going to be some vengeful Klaus in this story. Of course there will be Originals drama, death, mayhem and conspiracies. This may be my favorite plot out of all three parts. Hope you like it. Please review.**

 _I do not own the Vampire Diaries or Originals Characters. I own the story. ****Note: This story contains themes of an adult nature, including and not limited to rape, murder, kidnapping, domination, submission and more. If you are uncomfortable with themes of this nature, please do not read. This is part 3 of a series following 'The Dead of Winter' and 'The Blood Rose'. This story may cause triggers and is rated M for intense sexual situations, death, domination and more.*****_

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

The next morning, the house was a flurry of activity. Bonnie wanted to do the locator spell for the next white oak stake, particularly since she was pretty sure she was in love with someone that could be harmed by one. She and Kol were seated at a table in the courtyard discussing spells and the white oak stakes when Klaus and Caroline rambled down the stairs sleepily.

"Good morning brother!" Kol was beaming. Even Klaus had noticed how absolutely happy Kol had been since he met Bonnie. He always did have a thing for witches.

"Good morning everyone. Are we ready to proceed?" Bonnie glanced over at the reason for her existence as of late and nodded.

"Yes. I'm going to perform the spell and then we can figure out where the next one is. At least that is what I understood the last time." She repeated the process with the salt, symbols and runes chanting " _L'arme filium. Pa kenbe ex oculus. Indi. L'arme filium. Pa kenbe ex oculus. Indi. L'arme filium. Pa kenbe ex oculus. Indi."_ The breeze came and the breeze went but nothing really happened. The psychic connection that happened the first time did not repeat itself. She opened one eye to see everyone staring at her expectantly. "It's not working."

"What do you mean it's not working?" Klaus was growing weary of the witches and all their games. Even still, he was grateful to have Bonnie there, besides making his brother as happy as he'd ever seen him, she was an extremely powerful and gifted witch. " _Why_ isn't it working?"

"To be honest, I'm not really sure. I did get something though."

"What?" He stood gaping at her, eyes wide as if to say…'and?'

"They wouldn't show me the location, but they gave me the number of white oak stakes that exist."

Again with the look.

"There are five in existence, including the one that you collected, which leaves four."

"It would be really helpful if we knew where to look." He said loudly into the air with an irritated tone. At that exact moment a light bulb in one of the lamps blew. "My apologies." He said again to the air.

"Okay there are five white oak stakes, which corresponds to five originals, me, Elijah, Kol, Finn and Rebekah. Isn't that just convenient? Of course our mother will know that she's lost one." He paused while considering that information. "Okay, while you," he waved his hand at Kol and Bonnie, "figure out how to locate these mysterious white oak stakes, Caroline and I will go visit this witch in the quarter, Tara. Ready love?"

Caroline had been particularly quiet all morning and it was unsettling to him. Did she change her mind about loving him, wanting him? She wouldn't tell him what was wrong. While he could compel her, he was really trying to avoid that. So silently they walked to the car out front and got in. "Caroline, is everything okay?" His voice had an edge of insecurity about it as he laid his hand on top of hers lightly.

"Yes, Klaus, I'm fine. Let's just concentrate on the task at hand." She smiled at him to try to reassure him, but inside she was very torn. Thoughts of her life in Mystic Falls had been eating at her since she talked to her mother yesterday. She couldn't stop thinking about her friends and her life, about her mom. It was tearing her apart. She turned to look out the window. He caught her gaze and he could feel the possessiveness rip through his body as he watched her turn away. They sat in silence the rest of the way to the address that the witch had given them.

They pulled up to nice but ordinary looking house in the quarter. It was pleasantly decorated with varying plants and flowers. There were symbols and statues of Buddah and the sun everywhere. Klaus and Caroline looked from side to side as they walked up the tiny flower lined walkway to the door. Klaus raised his eyebrow as he rang the doorbell. It looked like the kind of house that Strawberry Shortcake would live in if she were a hippy.

They heard someone from inside shout happily, "Wait a minute. I'm coming." They both were kind of surprised to see the tall, blonde haired beauty in front of them. She was about 5'11", with very long blonde hair and blue eyes, she was thin, dressed impeccably and wore what looked like uncomfortably high heels. Caroline recognized one of the symbols on her necklaces as an Ohm symbol from yoga. The girl smiled brightly at them. "Hi. Can I help you?"

Klaus looked at Caroline and shrugged, which said to Caroline… _your way worked the last time_. Caroline studied the smiling girl. "Hi. We got your name from another witch that said you may be able to help us locate a white oak stake." The girls face dropped a bit. "I'm sorry, I don't know what you are talking about." Then Klaus stepped in.

"I'm afraid love that you do." He looked at her with a pleasant but unfaltering look.

Looking back and forth from Klaus to Caroline, "Okay, I'm not letting you in, but I'll come out." Klaus rolled his eyes, he thought that pretty much everyone in New Orleans was scared of him. "Sorry, word travels." She almost looked apologetic. He nodded and backed up so she could exit the house. "I have a patio out back."

As they approached the cheerful backyard, they all sat at a little bistro table. "Look I would help you if I could but I really don't know anything. I know that Claire came back and was looking for something. I haven't heard from her. Stella, the witch you met, had a white oak stake, which she told me she gave to you. Some of the witches don't like the rumors going around, but I really try to stay out of that. It's none of my business. I try to stay out of stuff and most of the witches that I associate with try to as well as they aren't keen on starting a war with the Original family."

"Do you know which coven or who is behind the dissention?" Klaus waged at her.

"No. I really don't. They are keeping everything very hush hush. Although I do know they are approaching people individually and swearing them to secrecy. No one has approached me about joining a secret coven."

"Do you mind if I compel you?" Klaus asked drawing her eyes into his.

"Ummm I guess not." She looked kind of confused by that.

He rose from his chair, looked squarely in her eyes. "Do you know of any plot against the Original family?"

"No. I don't know anything about a plot." Satisfied, he sat back down. The girl smiled at Caroline in a way that seemed somewhat flirtatious and Caroline was just thinking to herself that she found her intriguing and definitely hot, flashing back to Jesse and that night with Klaus.

Picking up on the energy immediately, Klaus added, "Tara, would you care to join us for dinner tonight?"

She looked kind of surprised at his offer, but nodded. "Yes that would be lovely. Are we going out or staying in?" She added with an air of suggestion. Meanwhile Caroline was caught somewhere between anger and jealousy. _He could have asked her first instead of just inviting her along_.

"Caroline love, what would you like to do?" He glanced at her, being confused by the look on her face at the moment.

"Well _honey_ , I thought we were going to stay at home tonight, but let's go out, then we can make it an early night." She was seething at him, which he caught and ignored.

"Okay then, it's been decided." A beautiful smile swept across his perfectly sculpted mouth revealing two equally irresistible dimples. Tara looked from Klaus back to Caroline sensing a slight bit of tension.

"We can always do it another time." She smiled brightly at them both wanting to give them an out. Caroline felt that she was being very genuine and was immediately hit with a wave of guilt over her behavior.

"No…no it's fine. I'm sorry. I've been a tad tired. We've just been busy. We'd love to have dinner with you." She returned Tara's smile with a sincere smile, again feeling a pang of guilt.

"Okay, if you are sure." She paused. "Can I just meet you there though? I need to shower and change."

Klaus jumped in. "Of course, love. Let's meet at Broussard's on Conti at 8pm. Do you know it?"

"Yes, who doesn't?" Everyone rose from the tiny table and said their goodbyes.

Once back in the car, Klaus turned to Caroline, concerned about the change in her attitude over the past couple of days. "Caroline, are you okay?"

"Yes. I'm sorry." She hung her head for a minute. "I'm just homesick. I miss my mom Klaus. Then you asked Tara to have dinner with us, without even asking me. I just wasn't in the mood to hang out tonight." Her eyes were watery. "It's just been a long couple of weeks. You know, you were almost dead, now we're here and it's all just moving very fast. I'm afraid I'll never get to see my mom again because someone is always going to be on the 'Kill Klaus Express'. It's fine. I'm not mad about dinner, really. But tomorrow, I'd just like to stay home." Tears were spilling out of her eyes by the time she got the entire sentence out. Klaus had started to see a trend when she was overwhelmed.

"Love, come here." He pulled her close to him in the back of the car. "I'm sorry I didn't check with you. I know it's been a long month. Not that it will make you feel any better, but I haven't had to think about checking with someone in….well maybe ever. We'll go see your mom the minute this latest drama is over. I give you my word Caroline. We'll go to picnics and bbq's. I'll take care of you and be the ever present boyfriend."

Laughing, she remembered her thought about how he'd feel about being called a 'boyfriend'. "Thank you Klaus. It means a lot to me that you meet her." They spent the rest of the ride laughing about Klaus being the BBQ King and him staking anyone that tried to take over the BBQ. It was a nice moment of normal in an otherwise supernatural filled existence for Caroline.

When they arrived back at Marcel's, there was a whirlwind of activity. Marcel and Kol were arguing over whether a particular symbol was of Irish or Spanish descent. An odd argument Caroline thought until she decided that the Mikaelson's just liked to argue to prove their dominance of knowledge over everyone. If they ever lost their jobs as the most powerful undead creatures on earth, they would definitely have a career in the legal system, although some of them undoubtedly would be on opposite sides of the law.

Caroline had finished showering and met Klaus downstairs, who had joined the symbol argument arguing with absolute authority that the symbol in question was of Dutch descent, while the two girls sat there drinking wine and watching the three argue their side. "Ummm k…Klaus, are you ready?"

Twenty minutes later, Klaus managed to tear himself away from the argument, declaring himself as the winner to which the other two started a new argument over the reasons that he wasn't. Shaking his head, he walked away and grabbed Caroline's hand on his way out the door. Caroline hopped in with Klaus close behind and they headed to the restaurant, running a few minutes late.

They arrived safe and sound at Broussard's about twenty minutes later and walked into the elegant establishment where Tara was waiting looking very elegant herself. She was dressed in very muted colors, with tan skin tight jeans, an olive green short sleeved wrap shirt, a light tan leather jacket with olive green and gold bangles, chandelier earrings and tan high heeled boots which Caroline recognized immediately as Michael Kors. Caroline appreciated how put together she was and missed the days when she felt that put together. She desperately wanted to go shopping again, there just wasn't time these days. Caroline had opted for a simple blue halter dress, strappy black heels and gold jewelry. She looked down at her dress, when she felt Klaus grab her arm and lean in. "Love you look beautiful." He kissed her cheek and held her hand the entire way to the table.

He could see the insecurity flowing from her and made a commitment to take her shopping before they returned to Caroline's hometown. He thought she looked beautiful no matter what she wore but he wanted her to see what he did.

"Have you ever been here Caroline?" Tara inquired pleasantly as she studied her from across the table.

"No. I haven't been very many places at all."

"You'll love it here, the food is amazing and the cocktails are to die for. It's one of my favorite places in New Orleans."

"How long have you lived here?"

"I've lived here since I was 28. I moved here from a small town in central Kentucky. I fell in love with it though. I started to discover my witchy side when I was about 16. By the time I was 18, I was accidentally catching things on fire. My parents, whom I love dearly, didn't know what to do with me, so I left. I found a coven a few years later and I've been here ever since."

"You are a Buddhist right? I saw the symbols around your house."

"Yes. I love anything earth based. I find it soothing. How about you guys? Are you spiritual?" She eyed both Caroline and Klaus.

"No. I mean I went to church, but I haven't been in ages."

"And I've lived long enough to watch religion and man change and adapt…a little _too_ well." Klaus flashed a brilliant smile at her. Tara nodded.

"It must be fascinating to live that long and see all that history. The things that you must have seen in your time, I can only imagine."

"Well, love, I've seen governments come and go and the one thing that stays the same is our family."

"What was your favorite decade?" Caroline actually never thought to ask him that.

"My favorite decade was the twenties." He grinned. "Love was fast and girls were wreckless. Art was everywhere, in the music, in the clothes."

They finished dinner, had a few more cocktails and decided to go to an upscale club around the corner. It was vastly different from the first club Caroline went to in New Orleans. Her mind flashed back to that night and she blushed. Klaus decided to get them drinks. Tara turned to Caroline and stared deeply into her, to the point that she got a little flushed. Slowly leaning in she placed a delicate kiss on Caroline's full lips. Klaus cleared his throat from somewhere behind them. "Ladies." Tara backed away as Klaus handed her a drink. Caroline swallowed hard and drank her entire drink in one gulp which amused Klaus to no end. "Would you like another one love?"

Caroline nodded at him and pushed her glass towards him, which left her and Tara standing there again. Alone. Caroline was staring at the dance floor. "Do you dance Caroline?"

"Oh you know, here and there." She smiled her emergency, _I feel awkward_ smile.

Klaus was back in a few minutes with a new drink for Caroline which she accepted gratefully. The alcohol was flowing freely tonight. Klaus leaned forward and pulled Caroline towards him; his mouth meeting hers hungrily as he crushed her into his chest. He smiled as he released her. Reaching up with his hand on each one of their necks, he guided Tara and Caroline into a very deep kiss. His cock was starting to twitch in his jeans as he watched the scene in front of him. While the no-humanity Caroline turned him on, this was much more appealing. The blush of her cheeks, the hesitation, her nervousness…he wanted her so badly right now.

He leaned in as they were kissing and started massaging her lower back, then brushing his lips against her neck, he whispered "Caroline, will you do something for me?" Leaning back slightly, he watched for her reaction, she nodded not breaking the kiss. "Touch yourself for me Caroline." She pulled away from Tara gently as her face screwed up into what could only be described as pure dread. Tara stood over her, after all she was nearly 6' tall with heels. Looking around awkwardly, she realized no one really cared what they were doing over in their little corner, so she leaned back against the column and slowly lifted her dress. Tara and Klaus stood in front of her as the red in her cheeks was evident even in the dimly lit club.

He reached his hand up to drag the back of his fingers down her flushed cheek, she leaned into his hand. Her forefinger was slowly massaging the little nub between her legs. Everyone once in a while, she would look around to see if anyone was watching, then she would close her eyes and let the most delightful noises escape from her throat. Bringing his hand down on top of hers, he moved his hand in time with hers. She was moaning pretty audibly at this point. "Caroline, let Tara touch you." She moved her hand away, her breath ragged and her eyes squeezed shut. When Tara's fingers found her, she gasped in sharply. Simultaneously, he leaned in and pulled her into an unwavering kiss as his tongue swirled around her mouth unrelenting; massaging her tongue. Tara's fingers were moving in and out of Caroline and he watched as her eyes rolled to the back of her head. He need to have her. Yanking her dress down, he grabbed them both by the hand and pulled them through the front door into the adjoining alley. They trailed along behind him, his lust vibrating along. Once they rounded a corner, Klaus pushed Caroline against the wall and kissed her again, this time more urgently and little more roughly. She groaned as he did, then he pulled Tara to him and locked her in an even more aggressive kiss. He wanted to rip Caroline's dress away, but he kept himself in check as he wanted her to be able to return home in some clothes.

In one movement, he flipped their positions, with Caroline's back to him and his back against the wall. He pulled up Caroline's skirt and started massaging her clit furiously, making her scream out in ecstacy at his touch. He pulled Tara closer so that Caroline was sandwiched between the two of them. "Come for me Caroline." Her moans were echoing through the buildings. If she had thought about it, she would have been a little embarrassed, but at the moment, she wasn't thinking about anything except Klaus being in her. Tara kneeled down and lightly brushed her tongue over Klaus's finger and Caroline's clit. Yanking his hand away, he grabbed her hair and held her in place as he reached around with his other hand and released his straining cock from his jeans. Bending Caroline over ever so slightly, he slammed into her so much speed and forced that she nearly sent Tara tumbling. He was in her, pumping himself in and out of her, feeling her slick wet walls gripping his rock hard erection. Tara was suckling on Caroline's clit and Caroline was becoming completely undone. "Come for me Caroline. Come now." She felt her entire body tense up. She could have come from his voice alone in her ear talking to her, instructing her. She felt her release as her entire body shook and legs turned to jelly beneath her. Klaus had an iron grip on her. The wetness between her legs was seeping down her legs as she struggled to hold on as Klaus found his release deep inside her and growled into her ear. His raspy voice sending chills up and down her spine as he spilled into her.

As he withdrew, he felt Caroline go slightly limp against him, causing him to smile as he looked at Tara. "Mmmmm...maybe we can do that again sometime." She looked around at the alley. She leaned in once again and kissed Caroline softly on the lips.

"Love are you okay?"

"mmmmmm. Mmmmmhmmmm." She was smiling and very happy. It was then that Klaus' phone rang. He took the phone out of his pocket and slid the screen to answer. "Marcel. What is it?"

Caroline could hear Marcel go on about something frantically. She was slightly out of it. "What? We are on our way." He ended the call and looked at Tara. "I'm sorry love, not tonight. I'm afraid we have to go." Caroline immediately snapped back into reality. Something had happened and he didn't want to say it right now.

They parted ways at the end of the alley; Caroline apologizing for their sudden departure and Klaus trying to usher her into a car waiting for them. He did turn to Tara and thank for her for a lovely evening, saying he would be in touch soon so they could all have dinner again. She kissed him lightly on the cheek and got into another car right behind theirs.

Caroline looked at Klaus. "What happened?"

He shook his head no and nodded towards the driver. As they arrived at their location, Caroline recognized the tiny dwelling as the Dubois house. _Omg_ , she thought, _the baby_. They rushed towards the house. Kol and Bonnie were already there, Kol was waiting outside. Caroline nodded at Klaus as she walked in and Klaus stayed out to converse with Kol.

"Bonnie, what happened?"

"We got a call from Rose's grandmother around 11pm. Someone broke into the house and ransacked it and roughed up Rose's grandmother. They just meant to scare her I think." Bonnie motioned for Caroline to follow her into the dining room. The scene was unreal. The entirety of the dining room was burned black. It was like ash. Outside of the room, nothing, inside the room, completely burnt.

"What happened?" as Caroline looked around, walking in and out of the room several times. Bonnie tilted her head to the side and opened her eyes, looking towards the living room where the grandmother sat holding the baby. She was none the worse for wear. Cornelia was sporting a rather large laceration, but it had stopped bleeding. The police finally began to filter out of the house slowly.

Bonnie and Caroline waited patiently for everyone to leave. "Mrs. Dubois, what happened?"

"Oh child, there were three of them. They broke into the house. One of them hit me, but the major damage came from when I was trying to escape the dining room. Two of them were in there, when it spontaneously combusted." She nodded at Rose.

"Was Rose okay?"

"I think she was mad and I think she set the dining room on fire." Caroline's mouth dropped open at that thought. Caroline walked towards the door.

"Klaus did you hear that?" He nodded. "I am going to call the guards and see if they saw anything. "Andrew…did you see anyone approach the Dubois dwelling?" Caroline heard him respond negatively and then Klaus hung up. "No nothing. How the hell did they get in without the two very alert vampires guarding this house seeing them? Tell her she should come with us."

Caroline turned around, letting the screen door shut. "Mrs. Dubois. I'm sorry, you should come with us so we can protect you."

"No…I'm not leaving my house. Besides, they wouldn't come back twice in the same night right?"

Caroline tilted her head, not really sure of the accurate response here. She heard Klaus say from outside. "Tell her I'll send additional guards over. We'll stay until they get here."

"We are going to send over more protection and wait with you until they get here."

"Don't matter none. They didn't see them the first time, because they were cloaked somehow. I'm guessin that they won't the second time either."

"Still. We'll wait." She nodded. Bonnie was talking to Rose in a chair. Rose was gurgling away like nothing had happened.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Thanks for all the reviews and encouragement. I will keep writing as long as people want to read it. I will probably stop after this installment. It seems a shame not to finish it when its drafted. I have more Klaroline after this story, just another idea. :)**

 **I don't think Caroline knows who or what she is yet. She has gone from being a prisoner to a hybrid to a girlfriend in a very short time. She's experimenting. It is all starting to weigh on her though. Some would argue that it's a lot of change in a short amount of time, hahaha. She feels drawn to Klaus but part of her is very torn about how that came about. I borrowed an exchange between Klaus and Caroline from TVD. It was one of my favorite exchanges ever, where she's trying to reach him but he's so drawn into himself he can't see it.**

 **I disagree that Klaus has changed vastly to boyfriend material. To me it is just that he was very guarded and it is true that he has very dark interests. The stuff he does is still there. He just realized his connection to Caroline was stronger than his connection to his darkness. He has a hard time shutting it off sometimes. I also don't think that Caroline is compliant and has no agency. She's confused by her feelings for him. She still has questions about why she feels the way she does, which she is exploring. Its just not simple. None of these characters are simple. She hates herself for loving him on the show and its no different here. There is something about him though that she can't shake. I can tell you there will not be retribution against Klaus. They will fight, they will try to figure their thing out, but she will not kill him.**

 _I do not own the Vampire Diaries or Originals Characters. I own the story. ****Note: This story contains themes of an adult nature, including and not limited to rape, murder, kidnapping, domination, submission and more. If you are uncomfortable with themes of this nature, please do not read. This is part 3 of a series following 'The Dead of Winter' and 'The Blood Rose'. This story may cause triggers and is rated M for intense sexual situations, death, domination and more.*****_

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

Caroline lay in bed, staring blankly out the window which was being speckled with tiny droplets of water. A million things were going through her mind, all the sudden she woke up with a boyfriend, an immortal life. A boyfriend that had tortured her and turned her no less, the fact that he was not a complete monster did not change that. To say that it was overwhelming was gravely understating the situation. It was true that she was drawn to him, in her mind, she just wasn't sure if it was a healthy thing, in fact she was fairly sure that it wasn't. He didn't react well to her thinking about leaving, however, she wanted to leave for awhile. Ever since she had been drawn into this world it had been like a non-stop battle with herself, with him.

He knew she was lost in thought. He could feel a solemn thickness in the air as he rolled slightly to the right and let his hand fall on her hip. "Good morning love."

She rolled back slightly to meet his gaze. "Good morning." Deciding she could no longer wait to talk to him. "Klaus. I need to go." For a reason she couldn't quite discern, tears filled her eyes. It wasn't like she didn't want to see him again. She just needed time to think away from him.

His voice caught in his throat as his head went back slightly to stare at the ceiling. Swallowing hard, "Why Caroline?"…his words racked with pensiveness…"I don't want you to go." In the two seconds it took him to get the words out, his eyes hardened, caught between possessiveness and betrayal. Pulling his hand back, he looked at her deeply, his blue-gray eyes threatening to change her mind with every second that passed.

"Klaus, I need to go. I need time."

"You are overwhelmed. It will be fine love."

"No. Klaus...I…I…need time to process everything that has happened. It's true that I'm drawn to you. That hasn't changed. I'm just not sure what all of that means. One day I was being tortured by you, the next I'm immortal, then you almost died and now we're here. I just need everything to stop for a little bit. I want to go home. I want to see my mom. I want to be normal for a little bit." The emotions in her head felt overwhelming at the moment.

"Running away won't fix anything Caroline. You always do this. You get overwhelmed and you want to run away."

The anger was rising under her skin. Why couldn't he just understand that she needed time? "Klaus, I need time. I'm not running away."

He wasn't happy. She was leaving him. He trusted her and she was leaving. He nodded, turning cold. "Okay, Caroline, can you wait until tomorrow or do you want to leave right now?"

"What is wrong with you? I'm trying to tell you how I feel and you are shutting down and acting like I'm trying to hurt you."

Throwing the comforter aside, he jumped out of bed and grabbed the Henley sitting on the chair beside the bed, after pulling that and his jeans on, he spun on his heel to look at her. "When are you leaving Caroline?" He leveled his gaze at her. He heard a noise in the hallway and flew out the door. Caroline was confused at first until she heard him in the hallway and rushed out after him.

"KLAUS! Seriously? What is wrong with you?" The words were spilling from her mouth loud enough for the entire house to hear. He dropped the maid to the floor half dead. She watched him coldly turn and walk down the stairs. She shook her head and started back to the room, then considering the maid she turned and fed the maid her blood who was confused. She compelled the maid and hurried back to the room so she could get dressed.

"Seriously, are you going to act like this? What are you five?" She was walking towards him with determination in her voice. He stood there, challenging her with his body stance, daring her to challenge him.

"Klaus, man, you can't eat the maids." Marcel was coming from another direction. Bonnie and Kol were slightly behind him.

"Klaus! Can we please talk?" Caroline was trying her best not to lose her temper with him, trying to keep the situation from escalating.

"What is there to talk about love? Apparently you've already decided." Bonnie mouthed 'uh-oh' to Kol who was quite stunned at his brothers behavior. While he was used to Klaus' mood swings, he'd never seen him react quite this way because of a woman. Marcel was looking at Kol trying to get him to intervene, to which Kol's response was an unequivocal no.

"Okay…fine." She turned to go back to the room. On a whim, he flashed in front of her. "Caroline you are not allowed to leave the house without me or go home until I tell you."

"Way to woo her brother." Kol piped in.

Klaus turned around, venom in his eyes. Caroline's face dropped. "Why are you acting like this?" He could see the disappointment in her eyes and it washed over him, but on the outside, he was like stone. Then he flashed away again, leaving her there, feeling betrayed…again.

Bonnie walked over to her. "Are you okay?" Caroline's outrage was bristling underneath her skin. Aargh. That man!She just wanted to scream. She wasn't sure where he went. She was so mad that she missed his direction when he left and she honestly didn't care where he went. How could he do that? He promised her she could leave. He promised. She believed him. Bonnie was standing there looking a little awkward.

"I'm fine. Welcome to the Klaus temper tantrum train." She rolled her eyes. Kol laughed at how true the statement was.

"Caroline, he'll calm down and come back."

"Kol, I don't really care if he ever comes back." She stormed off to the room.

As she breezed out the room, Bonnie shrugged at Kol. "So the search for the white oak stakes is on hold I'm guessing?" He raised his shoulders in a grandiose way and he leaned down and kissed her.

It was hours later when Klaus returned, strolling into the room and looking exceptionally guilty. She turned on him in one motion. He studied her before speaking, "Caroline. I know you are upset."

"You are damn right I'm upset. What was THAT?" Her blood started boiling immediately as she stared him down. "Seriously, you almost killed that poor maid." Looking somewhat like an insolent child, he started again.

"As I was saying, I know you are upset. I apologize for getting upset. It's just that I fancy you and I don't want you to leave. And love, you do have a habit of getting overwhelmed and wanting to run away."

She shook her head. "Klaus. I got overwhelmed because you tortured me, not because I was overwhelmed by being in love with you. I just need some time. I'm not leaving you, although your little stunt this morning did nothing to further your cause. Why can't you understand that?"

"Caroline I am trying. I'm really trying to understand. I was angry."

"No! You were hurt!" He froze at her words.

"Fine. You can go. I won't stop you Caroline. I want to stop you but I won't." She reached out to touch him and he responded by stepping backwards. She shook her head as she turned. He reached out and caught her hand. "Caroline…I…" Instead of finishing his thought, he just pulled her to him and kissed her, pouring all his frustration and pain into that. Pulling back, she looked at him and then turned to start packing. He watched her sullenly. There were oceans of thought between them this evening. They went about their night, silently. He painted for awhile, she packed and read. They went to sleep that night, facing towards opposite walls, feeling the vast distance between them.

The next morning, Caroline was in a weird place. She was very happy to be going home, however, she knew there was so much that needed to be said. Honestly, she just couldn't right now. He stood from the table when she descended the stairs with her bag, he vamped to her and grabbed it from her hand. With all the words forming in his head, he couldn't form one as he walked with her through the courtyard. The mood was palpable. As they stepped out into the light of the street, Caroline turned to Klaus. "I'll call you." She forced a smile trying to reassure him. He nodded and pulled her close to him, like it was the last time he'd see her. "You'll come after you find the white oak stakes?" The question lingered in the air.

She still wanted him to come?It surprised him. "Yes love, if you still want me to come, I will come to meet your mom." He leaned down and kissed her gently. It felt as if his heart was ripping from his chest. As she got in the car and drove away, his heart was heavy and he did the thing he always does, pushed it way down inside and acted like it didn't bother him in the least. This was a particular bothersome problem for everyone else as it usually caused him to act out in ways that he did not recognize until it was much too late.

As he sat at the table sulking a little and downing a glass of whiskey, Bonnie and Kol approached him tentatively. "Sooo," Bonnie looked at him. "We still have a white oak stake problem and a witch problem."

"And the witch problem is getting worse…" Marcel added as he and Rebekah walked in the room. "My sources tell me there is a coven that is uniting against you Klaus…" he paused and looked from Klaus to Rebekah and Kol. "…against all of you. They are led by a witch named Davina. Word is they are working to protect the quarter and stop Rose from fulfilling her destiny."

"Is that the only word?"

"No, it's also rumored that they were behind the attack on Rose's grandmother."

"So how do we find these witches?"

"Well it won't be easy. The Claire witches are also an old witch family with one hell of a strong bloodline."

"There are a million witches and a million bloodlines in New Orleans, Marcel. I'm more interested in how to bring them down." His voice had an edge of agitation to it.

"Well, Klaus, they are protected, they have the white oak stakes more than likely. The answer is I don't know." He looked at the man that practically raised him and threw in, "and making rash moves right now will not do anyone any good."

"I'm perfectly capable of controlling myself Marcel. Bonnie, have the spirits said anything."

She shook her head. "Nope. Not except that there are five total stakes and that they are spelled. We have three more to find and I'd bet that they are extremely well hidden." Kol was holding her hand, lost in thought. "Could you locate a coven using a locator spell?"

"Maybe, if I had something that was spelled by them."

"Was the white oak stake from that witch spelled by the coven?"

"Kol, you are brilliant." She jumped up and kissed his cheek, which sent him into a very wide grin.

Raising his eyebrows at Klaus, "You see, brother, brilliant. Girl knows what she's talking about." Klaus rolled his eyes.

"I'll go get the stake." He excused himself and went to get it, returning a few minutes later.

"Here you are Bonnie. Have everything you need love?"

"Yep. I think so." Taking out a sage stick, she lit it and said a quick incantation. Turning around, she noticed a girl off to the side. "Can you bring her over here?"

"For what?" Klaus eyed her suspiciously.

"She's a Taurus and I need to channel her spirit." Nodding, he strode quickly to where the girl stood, whispered something in her ear. She came to stand beside Bonnie. Laying the stake on the table and crossing the sage stick over it several times, she rested the sage stick on top of the stake, grabbed the girls hands and started repeating _"_ _Inveniere potencia reparon malifica. Inveniere potencia reparon malifica. Inveniere potencia reparon malifica. Inveniere potencia reparon malifica. Inveniere potencia reparon malifica. Inveniere potencia reparon malifica."_

A strong gust of wind blew through the courtyard. Bonnie looked around and then her eyes closed as visions tore through her conscious mind. She saw a graveyard, a number on a house, a street name and then back to the graveyard. The sage stick blew out suddenly.

"What did you see Bonnie?"

"Ummm pictures, like visions. I saw a graveyard, it was old. I saw a name but it doesn't make any sense to me."

"What name?" Klaus was very impatient.

"It said Glapion?" She looked at Kol and Klaus both.

"Marie Laveau. A little obvious, but okay. St. Louis Cemetary #1." Klaus glanced at Kol.

"I also saw a number on a house, 226, then a street, Wilson and then it flashed back to the cemetery."

"226 Wilson?" Klaus' eyes turned cloudy.

"What? What is it?" He shook his head.

"Tara. That's Tara's address." Okay, he didn't see that one coming. Somehow, Tara was involved in the cloaking of the white oak stakes. She must have been on vervain when he compelled her. Of course she didn't mind. The entire night must have been about finding out what was going on.

"So that means the first witch had to know, right?"

Klaus sighed. _Come on Klaus_. He should have seen that a mile away. "Okay, so she doesn't know that I know that she is a traitor. She was a distraction. Time to turn the tables. Marcel and Rebekah…can you track her?" They both nodded. He took his phone out of his pocket and dialed her number. "Hi love, it's Klaus. I was hoping that you could join me for a drink tonight in the quarter, maybe at Tujague's …" he paused "…No Caroline has left New Orleans. Great. I'll see you a little later, say 9pm?"

* * *

 ** _Caroline's POV_**

It was fairly early when she stepped off the plane. It was still an hour or two to Mystic Falls, but she felt so relaxed and happy to be home. She glanced down at her phone. He hadn't called or texted. He was trying to track down a coven of dangerous witches but still. She decided to text him.

 ** _Hey. Just got in. Will call later._**

Her phone dinged a second later.

 _ **Okay, love. Tara can't be trusted.**_

She glanced down at her phone. Okay. Whatever that meant, she knew he'd tell her later. She did miss him but it was so good to be home and out of the constant drama. As the car sped by familiar fields and houses, she could feel the excitement welling up inside her. She had called her mom in the morning before she left. A couple of hours later, she arrived at the house and practically vamped to the front door she was so excited, but she calmed herself down. Her mom appeared at the door. "OMG Mom!" She was so happy to see her. She looked amazing. She had grown her hair out and she actually looked relaxed for the first time…like ever.

"Care." She hugged her tightly. It had been so long. She barely believed that her little girl was back the first time they talked, but now it was real. They went inside, chattering excitedly about all the latest gossip in Mystic Falls. Elena broke up with Matt and was dating this guy named Stefan. Jeremy finally got off of drugs and was getting ready to go to art school. So much had changed. Her mom was dating! He was a history teacher at the local high school. His name was Richard.

They hung out talking for hours. Caroline was a little sketchy about Chicago. She just said she disappeared for a while, fell in love with the wrong guy…which honestly wasn't too far from the truth. It was so amazing to be home. Today she was going to hang out with her mom, but tomorrow she desperately wanted to see all her friends. She texted Elena first and made plans to meet her at the Grill at Noon and then she texted Matt and Tyler, just to say hi.

* * *

 _ **Klaus POV**_

Klaus put on a blazer and Henley after stepping out of the steaming hot shower. He hated that he missed her so much. Whether it was love or possessiveness, it was driving him to distraction. It was absolutely necessary to see what Tara was up to though, critical even. He couldn't compel her…then a thought crossed his mind…but he could turn her. Then he could just compel the location of the missing white oak stakes and kill her. Problem solved.

Brushing it out of his mind and deciding that he probably wouldn't fare well against the witch, he walked through the courtyard, nodding at Rebekah and Marcel on the way out. They were going to follow behind him and stay out of site, then track Tara once they had parted ways.

Klaus entered the quaint little tavern. It was one of the few places in the quarter that usually escaped the droves of tourists. There were not a lot of tables and the place was rather small. The drinks were good though and many locals went there. He arrived first and ordered a bourbon as he waited for her to arrive. She arrived about two minutes late and smiled brightly at him as she walked in. He forgot how attractive she was, tonight was no exception. He found himself really wishing he didn't know that she was a traitor. Despite that, he forced a smile and held out his arms to hug her as she approached.

"It's so nice to see you Klaus." Her blonde hair was wavy and cascading down her shoulders and her blue eyes were especially blue this evening. She looked as if she could step into a movie.

"I didn't order you a drink. My apologies."

"No, it's fine." The bartender approached and she ordered a Sazerac.

"That is one of my favorite drinks," Klaus added smiling.

"Yes mine too." She returned. "So Caroline? I hope everything is okay." Tara studied him looking for some indication of something.

He nodded. "Yes Caroline. Caroline is a child. She needs to find herself or something…or so she said." The scowl was enough to convince her that they were not together.

"Yes, well she does seem rather young. And she didn't seem particularly happy. Not that I'm judging."

"So what about you love? Are you seeing anyone?" She returned a smile.

"Would you like me to be?" she flirted at him.

"Just curious. You are a beautiful girl obviously. No Prince Charming in your life."

"No. I've always been somewhat of a loner actually. There have been relationships here and there, but no one for like five years." Damn. No leverage.

He raised his glass. "To new friendships." She met his glass and said it back to him. They sat there for a couple of hours trading flirts and stories. She was leaning into him. It was frustrating to him though, it just made him think about Caroline, but he played along with her, feigning ignorance about everything and anything that she brought up. If he could turn her, it would be so easy. He knew that would not go over very well with Caroline either.

Around midnight, he asked if he could see her home and she agreed. Once at her house, he walked her to the door. She turned. "I'd ask you to come in…but."

"But I'm the thing that goes bump in the night, love." He smiled, caught completely off guard when she pressed her mouth to his. That was unexpected! He managed not to yank away in reflex and instead smiled at her. "I should go." He waited until she was inside before he turned back towards the car.

 _ **Can you talk love? Are you still awake?**_

 _ **Yes. I'm awake.**_

He found Caroline and clicked her phone to call her. "Love, how are you?"

"Oh I'm okay. I'm really happy to see my mom." She immediately changed the subject. "So what's going on there?"

"I just dropped Tara off." He could feel the tension immediately.

"It's not like that Caroline. We found out that she is kind of playing a double agent. I went to get information from her over drinks."

"Did you get anything?"

"No, not exactly. But I think she really thinks I like her."

"That's great." The edge in her voice was almost violent.

"Caroline, I don't feel any way about her. She did kiss me though."

"I'm gone for a like an afternoon and you are kissing other people?"

"Love, if I didn't know better, I'd say you were jealous."

"Even if I am, you are still kissing other people."

"Yes well it wasn't my idea and it's good if she thinks that I am not on to her. Marcel and Rebekah are watching her." Caroline rolled her eyes. "Although I did for a moment think about turning her so I could just compel the location of the white oak stakes."

"Nikklaus Mikealson, if you turn that girl and I'm stuck with her for the rest of my life, I will never forgive you!" He laughed.

"Caroline, I did not actually turn her. I thought better of it. See that's progress."

"Yes well, you still thought about it."

"I miss you Caroline." Her voice caught in her throat. She missed him too, she just wasn't ready to tell him that.

"Will you call me tomorrow?"

"Of course love. Have a good night." He clicked the phone off and his thoughts immediately went to how much he wanted her here. It wasn't really clear the reason for her "time" but he was happy that it seemed that she still wanted to be with him, doing his best to try to understand it was about all he could manage. For him, he knew when he knew, but he knew Caroline was young and there was the circumstance with how they met. It seemed so distant to him, that time, wallowing in darkness. She brought light to his life in a way that he thought had long disappeared. On the reverse side of that coin though, he realized that he brought darkness to hers and darkness while alluring is also very scary. Caroline had darkness in her, but the light far outweighed whatever darkness lurked beneath the surface. It was not his desire to distinguish her light, in fact, he wanted more of it, he craved her in a way that he had never craved anyone before.


	4. Chapter 4

_**AN: I promise there is more Klaroline coming. There's a lot going on in the story. Just bear with me please. :) Caroline is a major part of this story, I promise. She's just taking some time to concentrate on her friends and family, which is going to be important in her realizing that she can leave and she isn't a prisoner.**_

 _I do not own the Vampire Diaries or Originals Characters. I own the story. ****Note: This story contains themes of an adult nature, including and not limited to rape, murder, kidnapping, domination, submission and more. If you are uncomfortable with themes of this nature, please do not read. This is part 3 of a series following 'The Dead of Winter' and 'The Blood Rose'. This story may cause triggers and is rated M for intense sexual situations, death, domination and more.*****_

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

 ** _Caroline POV_**

When she woke up the next morning she was very excited about going to see Elena. It felt like years, and when she thought about it, it really had been years. She jumped out of bed, took a shower and waltzed her way downstairs where her mom was drinking coffee in full police regalia. "Good morning Mom." She hugged her a little longer than usual. Caroline realized in her rush to leave New Orleans, she really hadn't thought about eating here. She would have to do something about that.

Her mom left for work and Caroline started to look around thinking about a way to get some sustenance in her body. She decided that she would have to compel someone. There was a blood bank in the hospital but that seemed complicated. Maybe she would visit later and try to figure out how hard that would be. She heard the doorbell and looked out the hole suspiciously at a young man with a bible. She tilted her head. _Well, it's an emergency_. She opened the door and greeted him with a very engaging smile. Before she could even get out hello, he started talking about something God related and she invited him in. A few minutes later, she put a band-aid on his neck, compelled a story and sent him on his way. _Okay, now to the Grill to meet Elena_.

 ** _Klaus POV_**

He wasn't in the best of moods this morning as he rolled over to an empty bed. Glancing at his phone, he noticed that she hadn't texted and the insecurity started rising like a leviathan in his blood. Deciding it was best to concentrate on other things he rolled out of bed and vamped into the shower. He met Marcel downstairs, who had just come in from the nightshift at Tara's. Rebekah had stayed behind to take over for him this morning.

"Anything interesting?"

"No man, in fact, it was a little too quiet. She just went to bed." Marcel shrugged. "Rebekah is keeping watch now." Just then Klaus' phone rang and he glanced down, with a sideways glance, he raised his eyebrow.

"Good morning Tara. How did you sleep?"

Marcel's phone dinged and he looked at the message. **_Another witch just showed up. They have a privacy spell though, I can't hear._** Silently, Marcel showed Klaus the message as he talked to Tara. He nodded at Marcel and turned his attention back to the call.

"Yes Tara that would be lovely. What time would you like to have dinner?"

As he clicked the phone off, his eyes narrowing, Bonnie and Kol joined he and Marcel in the courtyard. "Make sure there is protection in place for Rose. I have a feeling that Tara is up to something. We need to be ready. Kol and Bonnie, you need to watch over Rose. Marcel and Rebekah will join you once Tara is with me. Bonnie can you cast a protection spell over Rose?"

"Yes, I can. She's probably more powerful than I am though you realize."

"Well let's go with the extra protection in this case. The last time I went to dinner with Tara, their house was ransacked."

 ** _Caroline POV_**

As Caroline walked into the grill, she was thrilled to see Elena. Who looked very much the same, long brown hair, although she had cut layers into it. Elena got up to hug her. "Care! It's been so long. I'm so happy to see you!"

Caroline hugged her back. "I know, right? It's been years. I can't wait to hear about everything that has gone on since I left."

As they sat at the table, Elena chewed her lip, Caroline could tell that she had something on her mind. "Where did you go Caroline? You just stopped writing and calling. Everyone was really worried."

"Elena it's hard to explain. I got in a little trouble then I fell in love with someone who is kind of…complicated. I'd rather hear about you? So Stefen is it?"

"Well…" she admitted, "I love Stefen, but things have happened lately with his brother. I don't know how I feel."

"It seems like you have a bit of a love triangle."

"Well Damon does bad things, but it's usually always to protect me."

That caught Caroline's attention. "Protect you from what?"

Elena hesitated and sputtered. "Oh you know mostly myself." After that Elena made a point of keeping the conversation to small talk. It was clear they weren't nearly as close as they had been. It felt awkward to Caroline, like Elena was keeping a secret or didn't trust her. Still they spent the afternoon talking about the town and all the gossip.

 ** _Klaus POV_**

Later that evening, everything was in place as Klaus headed to the restaurant that he was meeting Tara at. She had sent word that she made reservations at Apolline on Magazine Street. It was known for being a romantic restaurant with amazing food.

As he walked into the restaurant, he was taken aback by her. She looked absolutely stunning and while he was not the kind to be lured by feminine wiles, he could still appreciate how beautiful she looked right now. She wore a pure white elegant lace dress and white heels. Her hair flowed long. He leaned forward to kiss her on the cheek as his hand touched her arm. "Nice to see you love."

Her smile was infectious, which is what the witches were probably counting on. Had he been any ordinary man, he probably would have been bewitched by her. He pulled her chair out as she sat at the table and joined her. He ordered a bottle of Perrier-Jouet Champagne and she raised her eyebrow. "Are we celebrating?"

"It's a beautiful night. I'm having dinner with a beautiful companion. Sometimes..you need to the celebrate the little things love."

She smiled. "Well you definitely know your Champagne."

After quite a bit of discussion, she decided on the scallops and he settled on the quail. It always reminded him of when he was younger. They chatted about nothing in particular for nearly thirty minutes when Tara decided to change the subject.

"So have you heard from Caroline?"

"No. In fact, I haven't." A fact that he was not particularly happy about now that he thought about it.

"Sorry. I understand if you don't want to talk about it. I'm not one for subtleties and I'm really not sure what to make of that relationship. I like you but I have a feeling that you are very much off the table."

While he appreciated her candor that was a conversation he was unwilling to explore, so he grinned at her. "Well, Caroline decided she wanted something else so that is that. I'd rather talk about you love."

"Well there isn't much to tell. I told you my story at dinner the first time."

"I would hope we haven't run out of things to talk about already." He flirted at her.

He could see a deep blush color her cheeks. That caught him off guard. At least part of this was not an act. That was a true reaction. He picked up the bottle and poured another glass of champagne for them both, just as their dinner arrived.

Klaus chatted about art and music as they ate dinner and found out that Tara had an interest in art as well. She pointed out a gallery in town that was currently having an art show, which Klaus thought he might stop by if the witches ever stopped being an issue for him.

His phone started to ring and Tara pointed to the restroom. He nodded and smiled as he clicked the phone on. "Marcel. What is going on?" Listening for a few moments, he rose from his chair as Marcel spun the tail on the other end of the phone. He started looking around. "I'll be right there." He pushed the door open to the women's restroom but Tara was long gone. Pursing his lips, he let out a frustrated groan. He went out the back door, but she was nowhere to be found.

When he arrived at the little dwelling where everyone was gathered there was a general feeling of sadness. He knew that it was not good. "Klaus."

"What happened?"

"Klaus we didn't see anything. They were cloaked or something."

"Isn't that why we have a bloody witch?" He looked around. There was a lot of blood, he could smell it. As he walked through the doorway, he saw the grandmother half lying in her chair dead and shook his head. "Where is Rose?" He searched the scene for anything that would give him a clue as to what had happened. The house was destroyed and there were toys strewn everywhere.

"She's gone."

His head fully dropped. "Did we do a locator spell?"

Bonnie answered him first, the amount of sadness in her words was notable. "I did Klaus. She's cloaked."

Klaus thought back to the visions that Bonnie had had and they specifically included the St. Louis Cemetery. "I think I know where to go. We need to go to the cemetery."

Minutes later, they arrived at the cemetery searching from tomb to tomb for anything suspicious. Klaus heard a sound which he couldn't identify. He vamped towards the indescribable sound. He stopped short and the rage started to radiate through his body. As his eyes wandered upwards, he caught a glance of the figure hanging there. She was stretched out on a cross, her hands and feet were staked and blood was practically streaming from her. He closed his eyes as the rest of the group caught up with him.

"Oh my God." Bonnie nearly threw up at the sight and Kol immediately pulled her to his chest. Before them hung Claire, staked and her chest was cut open, it was brutal. It was hard to believe that it was real, but it was very real. They had put a pillow or something in Claire's stomach to make her look pregnant and a knife protruded from it.

Klaus shouted into the night. "Where are you? Come face me COWARDS." Granted he had no love loss for the woman hanging there, but he had spared her, at the behest of the spirits no less. As he finished yelling into the night, Claire burst into flames. He went to rush forward but the explosion swelled as he approached. A loud scream screeched through the night as the fire burned brightly. They stood there as the realization of this show of strength washed over the entire group. They had gotten in to the house undetected, killed Rose's grandmother and sacrificed Claire to make a point. These witches were obviously not to be trifled with. They needed a plan.

His phone dinged and he didn't even process it, instead studying the scene before him. Once the fire went out, he and Kol took the body down from the cross, or what was left of it. Bonnie insisted on doing a burial rite for Claire, even though she had been stripped of her power and would not find peace with the ancestors. Then they burned what was left of the body.

Klaus was eerily quiet as he processed everything that was going on around him, considering every detail of what had happened. He would find Rose and he would save her, in his head, he wasn't sure why he felt so strongly about this. She was a child that belonged to someone he tortured. Maybe it was because he had a soft spot for innocent children. Maybe it was because at some point he had actually cared about Rose's mother or perhaps more likely, it was because he related to the child, being a powerful creature with no recourse and no say about what her life would be. She had been forced into a role in life, forsaken by her mother and father. Yes, maybe that was it.

As they walked from the cemetery, Kol watched his brother as Bonnie clung to him. He'd never seen him this quiet. He feared when Klaus was this quiet, because it was usually followed by a campaign of rage that destroyed anything in his path.

Klaus' phone dinged again. This time, he looked down and saw a message from Caroline. Deciding to deal with that tomorrow, he put the phone back in his pocket. He needed to think. Caroline was somewhat of a distraction and he couldn't afford that right now.

The next day, Klaus sat at the table in the courtyard, everyone gathered around, just looking at him and waiting. Bonnie looked back and forth from Marcel to Kol raising her arms in a questioning motion. He began to speak. "I wish I had an answer for what is happening, but I don't. I've never dealt with a coven of witches this dead set on an outcome. They are strong and they are not bound by the normal conventions of not harming other witches. Sacrificing Claire was a show of force with a definite message. They are going to kill Rose. I just don't know what to do about it right now."

"Klaus, the spirits are angry. I can tell you that they are protecting Rose in some way. I have no idea how and I have no idea how to find her."

As they were sitting at the table, a wind blew through the courtyard. Looking towards the door, a very pretty brunette entered the courtyard. She was very young for being the powerful leader of an all powerful coven. Klaus stood up and walked towards her so that he was in front of everyone in the group. "You dare show up here? Do you want to die sweetheart because I can arrange that?"

"I'm Davina and Nikklaus, is it?" His skin began to crawl when she mentioned his full name. "I'm not afraid of you."

"Oh dear, you will be. Well get on with it then, why are you here?"

"I have a message for you Nikklaus from your mother." The entire courtyard went silent as they all watched her with baited breath.

"You have my attention." He stood his ground as he stared down the formidable witch.

"Stay out of witch business. More will surely die if you try to interfere in the child's future. This is not vampire or hybrid business."

"Well…to be fair, my mother tried to kill me first. I don't like bullies, so you may tell my mother that my business is whatever I say it is. I don't follow orders from treacherous witches who seek the destruction of a child."

"You've been warned." With that Davina raised her hand in a sweeping motion and everyone in the room collapsed holding their head. Klaus fought against the pain and managed to get to his knee. Davina, a stern look on her face, watched him. She could see the determination in his eyes as he struggled towards her.

With a gust, she disappeared through the door and the spell released, leaving them all on the ground.

"That was most unpleasant." Kol still holding his head helped Bonnie up. "She's a strong one."

"She's very strong. Klaus, I think you need to take out your mother. She seems hell bent on your destruction."

"Yes, our mother has always been troublesome."

"Well I can spell the compound so that there's a barrier to anyone that is unfriendly. That will at least keep them out of here. I tried to locate Rose already. It didn't work. There is just no trace of her."

"Maybe you should have done that to the house where Rose actually lived." Klaus said sarcastically.

"Klaus I did when we talked about it. They got through all my spells. These witches are strong. I don't have the power of a hundred witches anymore. It was a temporary loan."

"Well ask them if you can have it back." He demanded with an irritable tinge to his voice.

"It doesn't really work that way, but I'll try. There's something else. " Bonnie was becoming frustrated with Klaus. Kol took her hand.

"Brother, it's not Bonnie's fault. She's doing everything she can to help us."

"Brother," he leveled his eyes at Kol, "you do not need to defend your girlfriend. I'm just growing bored with these witches. WE NEED A PLAN that works. At least if Bonnie has the power of a 100 witches, we stand a chance of finding Rose and defeating our mother." Kol nodded, he knew that Esther was strong and they didn't stand a chance against her. "I just don't understand why Rose is still alive."

"It's simple…" Bonnie started "…they are drawing power from Rose. I felt it radiating off Davina when she was here. The only thing that isn't clear to me is why Esther is doing this in the first place. You'd think the witches would want peace with the vampires."

"Because our dear mother doesn't want peace, because if there is peace, she will have no way to manipulate people into killing me. I'm calling Elijah." Kol let the pang of jealousy dissipate. He'd always felt that Klaus preferred Rebekah and Elijah over him. Klaus dialed Elijah who was busy living in bliss with Hayley. Elijah told him that he would be down the next day.

Klaus' phone dinged and he looked down to see Caroline's name pop up. As relieved as he was that she was finally contacting him, he needed to concentrate on the task at hand.

 ** _Hi. What's going on?_**

He decided it wasn't the time. **_I'll call you later. Stay safe._** He put his phone back in his pocket and continued to stare at the expectant group. "I need some time." He waved his hand and vamped off to his studio to think. _Bloody witches_. Somehow he needed to get to Tara. He decided turning her was his best option, which Caroline would be very angry about. Maybe he could get Elijah to turn her or Kol. Either way she could tell them where the white oak stake was, give them intel on Rose and Esther. It was the perfect solution although Caroline would not see it that way.

He called everyone down to the courtyard. "Okay. I think I have a plan."

Everyone waited…Kol started winding his hand around like 'get on with it'. "I'm going to try to turn Tara. If we can distract her long enough, I can turn her and then I can compel her to share all Esther and Davina's secrets, including the locations of the remaining white oak stakes."

"That won't work." Kol started.

"Oh Kol, always the doubting one, aren't you?"

"Someone has to be. These witches are smart and you always underestimate them. They are going to be ready for that." Klaus considered what Kol was saying and he decided he was right.

"Okay. So what do you propose?"

"I think we should located Davina. Davina is drawing power from Rose, so she'll keep her close. She won't want anyone to get close to her. When we get close, we can distract her while Bonnie uses Rose's magic to track her and rescue her."

"And how do you propose we do that Kol?"

"Well that is the tricky part. You, me, Rebekah and Marcel are going to go after her…and let her throw us around a bit." Klaus rolled his eyes.

"Oh and your plan of turning a powerful witch into a hybrid is so much better?" He raised his eyebrow. "At least my plan has a chance of working."

"He's right Klaus. Davina will keep the child close to her if she's using her magic. And if she is distracted by three Originals and a very old vampire, it should keep her busy enough to give me time to find Rose. Drawing that much power will limit what else she can do. And once we have the child, I can draw magic from her and defeat Esther."

"Fine. Let's do it tomorrow night though when Elijah is here. I'll feel better, if we are all there. It will give them time to think that their warning worked." Kol rolled his eyes.

"They aren't going to think their warning worked Nik. They are going to think that you are planning something."

"Yep. Right about that too." Bonnie smiled at Kol; leaning her head back so he could kiss her.

Klaus decided to go off and do some additional investigating, paying a visit to an old friend in the quarter. Patty was a witch, she was older, but in the day she was one of the most beautiful women in New Orleans. He pushed to door open to the tiny little herb shop that doubled as a tourist shop. She made dream bags and little tokens that were supposedly cursed or blessed, mostly they were just trinkets with some herbs inside. Patty was busy mixing some herbs with a mortar and pestle. "What do you want vampire?" Klaus grinned as he looked at her. Even at nearly seventy she was impossible to sneak up on.

"Patty, love, don't break my heart and tell me you aren't happy to see me."

Her small dark eyes peered up at the man standing in front of her. "Mmm hmmm. Don't try flirting with me Nikklaus Mikealson. What do you want?"

"I have a witch problem."

"When don't you have some kind of problem?" She eyed him suspiciously.

"That's not fair. I'm trying to settle down. I have a girlfriend and everything."

"Well she's either insane or not very smart if she's with you." Klaus roared with laughter. Patty had a sense of humor he could appreciate and she knew him almost too well. They had been friends back in the twenties. She had helped him with a few spells here and there and he returned the favor by protecting her family. "So what do you need?"

"I'm trying to locate a baby."

"Ah the baby, Rose, yes?"

"Yes."

"And what is your intention there?" Examining his eyes for any indication of maliciousness.

"Patty please, I've never slaughtered children. I seek only to protect her from harm. She is the key to peace between our species, which I'm sure you already know. Some rather unscrupulous characters have come into possession of her and I need to get her back." He looked at her with as serious of a look as he ever had. "They killed her grandmother and mother."

Patty sighed. He could tell she was unaware of this as sadness filled her eyes. "You will need something of the child's and a connection to her magic. The Blood Moon witches will have her cloaked. Even if you can manage to find her, I would guess she would be damn near impossible to take."

"Just help me with a spell that can locate her…please." Patty scribbled some words down in three sets.

"I assume you have a witch. You always do. Give this to her. Have her cast the first spell to locate the child. Once you are at the location, tell her to cloak herself first and the rest of you and cast the second spell to dampen the magic in the space. I fear grave danger will come to her if she does not. Have her repeat the third incantation once she is in possession of the child. It will cloak her from anyone that wants to do harm to her. It will also bind your witch and the child together, so be careful of that power."

Klaus lowered his eyes and brought his hands together in a prayer position and lowered them at her. "Thank you Patty. You've always been a good friend."

Minutes later, he walked into the compound, which had now been spelled against outsiders. He handed Bonnie the piece of paper while he looked at Kol. "Here are the spells we need to find Rose. We will need something of hers. The first part is to find her. The second is to dampen the magic in the area, perhaps, we will escape without too many injuries and the third is to cloak the child from Davina and Esther."

"Ah buh…" Bonnie looked at Kol, who shrugged.

"Oh Brother, you aren't the only with witchy connections." Klaus' smile said only one thing… _I'm superior_.

"Okay, then, we need to go to Rose's house, yeah?" Looking up at Kol, he nodded and they departed immediately. Klaus picked up his phone and dialed Elijah. "Brother…any way you can move your trip up to tonight? I need you."

Klaus looked at Rebekah and Marcel. "We are going to get the child tonight. Kol is right. They will be preparing by tomorrow." With that, he departed and went to his room.


	5. Chapter 5

_**AN: I had to rewrite this chapter a few times. Thanks for all the reviews, follows and notes. I'm glad that ya'll are enjoying it. xoxoxo**_

 _I do not own the Vampire Diaries or Originals Characters. I own the story. ****Note: This story contains themes of an adult nature, including and not limited to rape, murder, kidnapping, domination, submission and more. If you are uncomfortable with themes of this nature, please do not read. This is part 3 of a series following 'The Dead of Winter' and 'The Blood Rose'. This story may cause triggers and is rated M for intense sexual situations, death, domination and more.*****_

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

 ** _Bonnie POV_**

"Kol…" She placed her hand on his arm. "…someone's here." They stopped short of the door. The door flew open and Davina silently walked out. Bonnie went to go after her, admirable, considering the amount of power she had presently. She smiled at the attempt.

They both turned as she walked up the walk. "What are you doing here?" Davina asked. They were both silent as they watched her. "Fine, don't tell me." She raised her arm and the house behind them exploded into a ball of flame behind them. The force slammed them both into the ground. When they looked up she was gone.

"Noooo!" Bonnie screamed as she scrambled to her feet. She was looking around frantically.

"Bonnie. Bonnie. Calm down." Kol was holding her in place and trying to calm her, but she was beside herself.

"We can't catch a break." The tears were spilling from her eyes. "That poor little girl is gone somewhere, with psychopaths. Every single time we have a plan, it falls apart. It's like they know what we are doing. We have to save her Kol!" The house was completely burned to ash in front of them. In her frantic mood, she caught a glimpse of something in the ash. She rushed forward and started brushing away the ash. Beneath the ash was a perfectly preserved bunny. "Kol! Kol! Look!" Kol rushed to her side and looked down at the bunny. He was perplexed as he looked at the scene in front of him.

"Kol, its spelled." She looked up at him, half crying and half laughing.

"Spelled by who?"

"It's Rose's magic. I don't know how, but it's Rose's magic." She was smiling. "Come on, let's get back so we can do this spell and save Rose."

They walked through the doorway and short hallway to the courtyard. Klaus looked at them confused. Bonnie's face was stained with tears and Kol looked all the worse for wear. "What happened?"

"Davina blew up the house." His hand was on Bonnie's waist. As displeasure spread across Klaus's face, Kol put his hand up. "We found a toy though, that is spelled with Rose's magic. We aren't sure how, but it was there, perfectly preserved." He held the toy up for Klaus to see.

Klaus looked at the small fluffy toy turning it over in his hands, confusion evident in his eyes. He shook his head. There were so many threats and so many things going on, that it was difficult to ascertain the sheer immensity of the threat against them. Every single time they made a move, Esther seemed to be one step ahead of them. _How did Davina know they would be at the house? How did she know?_ Klaus didn't like it, something was wrong.

"Something is wrong. How did she know we would be there? Every time we have made a move, they have been one step ahead of us." Bonnie looked at Klaus.

"I said the same exact thing at the house. How do they know?" Like a ton of bricks, it hit her.

"Klaus. I need to do a spell on you." The concern was evident in her voice as she spoke. "In fact, I need to do it on everyone. They do know more than they should. There is no way that they could have known we were going there." He nodded at the witch following her train of thought.

Bonnie took a knife and salt out of her bag. "Pantry to go?" Klaus's attempt at being funny. Bonnie drew a circle of salt in the middle of the table, took the knife, pricked Klaus's finger and let the droplets of blood fall into the center of the circle, then repeated the process with herself. She began, " _Pande magicae magicam ostendere virtute trium. Pande magicae magicam ostendere virtute trium. Pande magicae magicam ostendere virtute trium._ " The blood bonded together and burned into red colored smoke. She opened her eyes in shock and looked at the hybrid. "Klaus…I don't know how to tell you this."

"What?" Now he was concerned.

"You are bonded to a witch. They are tracking everything you do." He stepped backwards trying to think. He wasn't all that shocked by the revelation, he just needed to wrap his head around it.

"Can they hear me?"

"No…it's more like they can see visions of what you are doing. They'll see that I did the spell to reveal the bond. They'll expect me to break it. I can break it, it's going to take me an hour to get the stuff I need for it. For now, it's best that you separate until I can figure this out. And Klaus…they would have seen the spells from your witch friend."

"Would they be tapped in the entire time?"

"More than likely not, it would require a lot of magic to maintain an open portal to see your every move."

"But still they are seeing the most important moves." Bonnie nodded at him.

 _Tara_! He nodded at her and left the room. Bonnie repeated the process with everyone else. He needed to think. They knew that he was in contact with Caroline. They knew what he was planning. What would they do in response to prepare? He picked up his phone to call Caroline. After all, it's exactly what he would do.

The phone rang. "Hello love."

"Hey. I was just thinking about you."

"Really? And what were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that I hadn't talked to you a lot since I've been here."

He concentrated on a spot on the wall. "I know. It's been rather crazy here."

"Yeah. I've been hanging out all day. I was just doing some gardening. Is the danger over?"

"No. I'm afraid that it's not safe. You need to be careful. I fear they know what you mean to me and they will try to use you against me. So stay out of sight for awhile."

"I will Klaus."

In the background, he could hear that she was outside and that someone had just approached her. He heard her talking. "Tara…what are you doing here?"

"Caroline…RUN." The line went dead after that. Shouting, he threw the phone against the wall and it shattered into a million pieces. Everyone ran into the room. "They have Caroline! Bonnie, you need to break this spell. I'm staying here. Don't say anything around me until you can break the spell." She nodded and turned immediately around with Kol on her heel as she ran down the stairs.

An hour later, Bonnie and Kol returned. Klaus was painting, after all there was nothing else to do. He couldn't even attempt to save Caroline if they knew every single thing he was going to do. When they walked in the room, Bonnie could feel his absolute rage at the situation.

"Okay", she poured a thick line of salt in the middle of the floor, placing candles all around the circle. "Klaus I need you to sit in the middle of the circle." She put a drop of her blood at each direction of the circle, North, South, East and West. Using her dagger, she cut an X into his forehead and started to chant as she laid her hands on his shoulders. " _Conteram incantatores . Hunc dimittis . Protegam eum, et remittemus eum . Caede vinculo magam que projicietis canibus. In nomine mater , virgo, et anus._ " She repeated it three times. Klaus's head started to spin. For a second he saw Tara torturing Caroline and his temper surged before the pain sliced through his temple forcing himself to grab his head in response. He looked up at the witch. "Did it work?"

"It's done."

"Are you sure?" He looked up at her.

"Yes I'm sure Klaus."

"Good I have a witch to kill." There would be no reasoning with him this time and honestly she didn't blame him for wanting blood. Now they had Caroline, who was next?

By the time, Klaus reached the bottom of the stairs, Elijah walked into the courtyard.

"Brother, you are just in time. They have Caroline. We need to go now."

Bonnie hesitated as she reminded him. "But Klaus, they know all our plans."

"Yes, they do. If they know everything we are planning, we may as well get on with it. I'm betting on us."

They all assembled in the courtyard. "I'm going in first to draw out our mother and Davina. Kol stay with Bonnie, you are her first…" he hesitated "…and only line of defense. Elijah, Rebekah and Marcel…you are with me…give me a few minutes then follow me in. Bonnie, can you cast the protection spell here?"

"Yes. We can do that and the locator spell here. Once there, I will cast the disempowerment spell and the disruption spell. I will have one minute to cast the cloaking spell on Rose. Everyone use the dagger to cut your hand, then join hands in a circle. This spell will keep us bound and protected. It will not be enough to stop them, but it will make it harder for them to do permanent damage to anyone that can be killed, which is basically me and Marcel. Or you if your mother has the white oak stake which we should assume she does."

"Yes, but she doesn't have four white oak stakes. She has three. Hence, the reason Elijah is here. Now we outnumber them."

Bonnie repeated the incantation for the protection spell, everyone felt the energy surge through them as they joined hands, an invisible bubble enveloped them all then dissipated. Bonnie nodded when the spell was done.

Afterwards, she immediately turned her attention to the tracing spell, grabbing the bunny, a map and the sage stick. Instead of using a sign, she used her own blood to bind herself to the spell. " _Inveniere potencia reparon malifica. Inveniere potencia reparon malifica. Inveniere potencia reparon malifica._ " The blood on the map caught fire and was fast moving towards another graveyard. She looked up at Klaus and nodded.

They knew what they had to do. As they quickly exited the house and made their way towards the graveyard, there was a thickness in the air. Everyone in the group could feel Klaus's rage. It was searing as he walked with purpose towards the entrance of the graveyard. He turned around and motioned at Bonnie and Kol to stay outside the boundary of the graveyard.

Bonnie started the disempowerment spell, it wouldn't be completely effective, but it would damper their magic somewhat.

Klaus was the first to enter as planned. He walked around the graveyard, looking between the buildings, crypts and headstones. "Mother, where are you? You knew I was coming, so save me the trouble of finding you before I rip your head off your shoulders." He stood there listening for a moment. He kept walking, as he turned a corner, a familiar face stood before him. It was Davina. "Come now mother, sending your little minions, are you afraid to face me?"

A moment later, Esther revealed herself. "Ah there we are." He stood nodding his head. "Dreary location for our showdown, don't you think? Why don't you give me the baby and Caroline and we'll forget all about this little coup of yours."

"All I want is for you to understand what you have become Nikklaus. To see what I see. You are nothing more than a monster. "

Raising his eyebrows and widening his eyes slightly, he stared at her enraged. "A monster that YOU created," he shouted at her, "You did this. How ironic is it that you created the monster that will destroy you….again?" He added just for good measure. "Well dear mother, as you probably know, I'm not here alone." He twisted his hand around and up and Elijah, Rebekah and Marcel appeared around him. "You will no doubt have a more difficult time than you think."

"Yes Nikklaus, I'm aware that your siblings are here. It won't stop me though."

"Why do you and Mikael insist on hunting us down? Why are you doing this? You'll never kill us all. And if you do manage to kill any of us, the one's that remain will hunt you down for eternity."

"Because Nikklaus I made a mistake. There can be no peace with the vampires. It will work to ensure your survival; a thing that I will never allow to happen." Esther raised her hand and a searing pain ripped through their bodies as they began to walk forward. It was somewhat downplayed and they still managed to advance forward. Klaus managed to grab Esther and throw her into a wall. She immediately got up and started whispering an incantation which made his vision falter as she took out a white oak stake and started towards him.

Meanwhile, Bonnie and Kol were running through the graveyard, searching for Rose, when all the sudden a door blew off a crypt down from them. They looked at each other as they ran towards it. Inside, sat the baby, looking at up at them. "Kol wait! It's sealed. If you go in, you won't be able to come out." I need to go in alone. She stepped tentatively through the door as she looked down at the baby who sat on a baby blanket with a few toys here and there. Rose looked up at her and smiled a toothy smile. There was some kind of protective barrier around the child. Taking the supplies from her bag, she used the salt to draw a circle, dropping a drop of blood on the line of salt to seal it, she started to repeat the incantation, " _Hunc dimittis obice . Hunc dimittis obice . Unius potentiae ab antiquis ego praecipio tibi._ _Hunc dimittis obice . Hunc dimittis obice . Unius potentiae ab antiquis ego praecipio tibi._ _Hunc dimittis obice . Hunc dimittis obice . Unius potentiae ab antiquis ego praecipio tibi_ …" The baby gurgled something as she did. She felt the barrier lift and immediately grabbed Rose, whispering the linking and cloaking spell with them still standing inside the salt circle.

While Esther was dealing with Klaus, Davina was concentrating on keeping the other three involved, they were on the ground screaming, but still fighting forward. "Where is she? Where is Caroline mother? I will kill you and find her anyway. So you might as well tell me." He grunted as she started backing away. All of the sudden, an invisible force surrounded Davina and Esther and they stopped in their tracks. Esther started pounding on the air, realizing that they found the baby. She immediately started chanting a counter spell. They were moving and chanting but it was if they were contained in a bubble that no sound or movement could penetrate.

The siblings and Marcel were released from their hold as they looked at each other for a second.

Bonnie ran towards the door and told Kol to tell the others and started running towards the exit of the graveyard.

Hearing Kol, they all vamped out of the graveyard leaving Esther and Davina standing there still trying and unable to break the barrier which disappeared a few moments later.

Esther threw her hands up in frustration. "Now they have the baby. She's gone. She's no longer linked to us. We spelled that crypt with the power of a coven!"

"Yes but we still have Caroline. We can make a trade."

"Listen to me Davina. You have no idea who you are dealing with. My son is not that stupid. He will not fall for a trade. We need to be a little smarter than that. We need to stop this union." She stormed off towards the back of the graveyard.

 ** _Klaus POV_**

When they reached the house, Bonnie resealed the entrance just to be sure that no one could breach the entrance. "Klaus under the circumstances, maybe we should move. They know where we are. Rose was protected by some pretty powerful magic in the graveyard.

Klaus looked at the child, taking the child from Bonnie, he held her up. As soon as their skin made contact, Klaus became overwhelmed with a vision of Tara holding a white oak stake, then it soared to her torturing Caroline and laughing. Klaus shook his head and studied the child before handing her back to Bonnie. "Tara has Caroline and is torturing her. She also has the third white oak stake."

Bonnie was bewildered by this new information. "How do you know?"

"Because when I held Rose, she showed me." Everyone looked at Klaus like he had drank too much bourbon. Growing frustrated with their stares. "She showed me in a vision." Raising his hands up like it was the most natural thing in the world. "We need to find Tara, kill her or turn her and get Caroline and the stake from her."

"Did she happen to show you where she was holding Caroline or the white oak stake brother?" Kol added.

"No."

"Of course not. That would be too easy." He rolled his eyes. Bonnie put her hand on his shoulder. Kol was a little uneasy about the whole situation.

"I need to try to find a relative of Rose's that she can go to after this whole mess is over." Klaus nodded. "In the meantime, I will go tomorrow and file for emergency custody. Kol can go with me to help things along." Giving him a knowing look that it would involve some kind of compulsion as the state was not in the habit of just handing babies out to the first available person on the street.

Bonnie left to go do some geneology research with the tot in tow. Kol followed after her frustrated by the entire situation. He just felt as if there was something everyone was missing. He wasn't sure what it was, but there was something about all this that just didn't make sense to him.

Everyone was emotional and on edge at the moment.

Marcel and Rebekah went into the quarter to try to hear what they could hear from sources.

Elijah sat at the table with a bourbon, watching his brother approach, he poured another and pushed it towards an empty chair. "Brother. Doesn't this entire situation bother you?"

"This entire situation is a setup. I don't know why I feel that way, but something has always been a little off about this whole thing."

"Esther is crazy when it comes to us, but I don't believe that she would harm a child. She's always had such a soft spot for children. But this child, she suddenly has to destroy it because she's afraid of an alliance between the species? It doesn't make sense."

"No it doesn't Elijah. There's something more I agree." They sat there drinking and discussing the possible scenarios of what Esther could possibly be hiding. Nothing seemed to make sense though. Their mother had thrown out all the usual rules, not hurting other witches, attacking children, killing innocent old women. It just didn't make any sense to either of them.

Rebekah and Marcel returned a couple of hours later.

"Any news in the quarter?"

"No…" Rebekah shook her head. "There are rumors circulating that the ancestors took the child to protect her from the vampires." Shaking her head. "As if…why do we always get the bad name?"

"It's all illusions and tricks, isn't it? Diverting attention to us, when we are the one's trying to protect Rose." Klaus was lost deep in thought. _Smoke and mirrors_. "But why?"

It was very late when Klaus headed to his studio to paint and think. He always thought more clearly when he was painting. He would figure out what Esther was up to one way or another. He would find Caroline. He swore that he would give Caroline the choice to leave when he did find her. He wouldn't try to make her stay again.


	6. Chapter 6

_**AN: Okay I got a little stuck, but I figured out the nuances. Here is the next chapter. Hope you enjoy.**_

 _I do not own the Vampire Diaries or Originals Characters. I own the story. ****Note: This story contains themes of an adult nature, including and not limited to rape, murder, kidnapping, domination, submission and more. If you are uncomfortable with themes of this nature, please do not read. This is part 3 of a series following 'The Dead of Winter' and 'The Blood Rose'. This story may cause triggers and is rated M for intense sexual situations, death, domination and more.*****_

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

It was nearly 5 AM when Klaus stopped painting; his mind plagued by thoughts of Caroline. He was in pain without her; with the thought that she was being tortured where ever she was. Whatever was really behind this was bothering him. Elijah and Kol were right. There was something…more. Something more to why his mother, a devoted mother in her own mind, would turn on a child and an old woman. To further convince a coven to cooperate. On a whim, he decided to re-visit Stella as soon as the sun rose.

Nearly two hours had passed when he finally went down the stairs. Everyone was in the courtyard with the baby and discussing plans for the day. They all looked up at Klaus when he stepped onto the cobbled floor of the courtyard.

"Nik." Elijah nodded at him.

"I'm going to see Stella." Everyone looked at him with a quizzical look on their faces. He sighed, "The first witch that we got the white oak stake from. I want to see if she knows anything."

"Kol and I are going to city hall." Bonnie stood and handed the baby to Rebekah. Rebekah and Marcel were going to watch Rose.

"Brother I'll join you." Elijah added as he stood and followed him through the hallway. Klaus was in no mood to waste time today. He got into the back of the car and waited for Elijah to join him before taking off for the witch's house. When they arrived all was quiet. He strode up to the door and rang the doorbell.

Stella, an older portly woman, looked out the window and rolled her eyes. "I knew that this entire thing would bring me nothin' but trouble." He heard her muttering under her breath.

Klaus leaned against the door. "Stella I mean you no harm. I want to ask you some questions so be a dear and open the door."

Slowly she opened the door and peered out the door at the vampires. "You ain't comin in."

"Yes, yes we know. We are the enemy. Funny how that is the case when we are not the ones killing old women and mothers and kidnapping their children." He raised his eyebrow at her. She slowly stepped out onto the porch. "Stella look…I gave you my word that you were out of this…and I will keep my word. I just need some information. Remember my friend Caroline?" She nodded. "They took her. Do you know why my mother is after Rose?"

The woman stood there for a few minutes as the original brothers stood in front of her. Klaus thought to himself that most people would be pretty frightened at that sight, but not this woman.

She began. "Your mother thinks Rose is important."

"Important how?"

"She thinks Rose is tied to an ancient prophecy about a child that will be born with witch powers that will marry a beast and which in turn will unite all the species and effectively seek to rule the world."

Elijah and Klaus looked at each other in absolute shock. "Okay?"

"That is what she believes."

"How does this relate to us?" A logical question since that was how his mother had always referred to him and werewolves in general.

"The child is somehow related to you. She believes the werewolves and witches will unite first, but this child will have a connection to the Mikealson family and the vampires will follow. Making the Mikealson's impervious to attack."

"Related to me how?" Klaus actually had to sit down for that one. Klaus couldn't have children. That was a fact that he was completely sure of.

"So, let me get this straight. My mother, thinks that a child that is somehow related to me, which is impossible by the way, is going to marry a werewolf which will in turn bring about supernatural peace to all beings? Sounds a little far-fetched don't you think? Not that I'm not open to ruling all supernatural creatures, but some of them may not like it."

She was wringing her hands as she answered. "Yes that is exactly what she believes and she also believes that you are a plague on the earth and that the fulfillment of this prophecy means the end of life as we know it, that it is a veiled as peace but it's actual course is the destruction of life as we know it."

Klaus looked at Elijah and raised an eyebrow. Elijah was deep in thought at this point weighing the information that they just received. "So basically my mother thinks I'm Satan." It was more of a statement than a question.

"By killing you, your siblings and the child it effectively wipes out the prophecy. At least that is what she is assuming." She would, he thought.

Klaus stood from the bench on the porch. "Stella. Thank you for the information. Do you know where they are taking Caroline?"

"No. She wasn't part of the original plan." He nodded as they both departed and thanked her for her time.

As Elijah and Klaus got back in the car, they looked at each other for a long minute before speaking. "Well I guess that answers our question about our mother's real stake in all of this."

As Klaus studied Elijah, he asked, "Yes, our mother thinks I'm the devil. So that makes Rose what? The anti-christ?"

"Well you are the only one besides Bonnie who has had visions while holding Rose. Maybe if you talk to her while you are holding her, she can show you more. I fear our mother is completely delusional and I am afraid of what she will do to the child."

"Yes it would appear that our mother has finally gone off the deep end."

Shrugging, Elijah turned to stare out the window on the way back to the mansion.

When they walked into the courtyard, Klaus made a beeline for Rose who was sitting in Rebekah's lap. It was worth a try, even if it was completely crazy. Looking down at her and studying her closely, he leaned down to pick her up. "What is going on Rose? Can you show me what is going on?"

The baby gurgled at him. He looked rather awkward holding the child, sitting there waiting, just staring at her and waiting for something to happen.

Kol and Bonnie walked in minutes later holding a few pieces of paper up. Looking at his brother with an odd look before talking, "So…we have an announcement everyone…Bonnie and I got married." He was beaming. Bonnie rolled her eyes slightly and smiled. Elijah's mouth fell open.

"It was just for appearances."

"No…it was originally for that, however, I'm holding you to it." He leaned over and kissed her. "The clerk at the court told us if anyone noticed that custody was awarded to a single woman, that it would be suspicious. So we got married and had a baby all in one day." Kol was too happy with himself. Elijah looked at Klaus…

"So that makes Rose, your adopted neice…for all intensive purposes."

Klaus stared back at him. Kol was slightly confused by the statement, but Elijah was right. It made her Klaus's adopted, albeit temporary neice. "Klaus what are you doing?"

Klaus glanced over at Kol. "I was trying to see if she could show me anything else about what is going on but apparently she can't. Bonnie can you do a locator spell for Caroline?"

"I can, but Klaus they aren't going to be that stupid." Deep down inside, he knew she was right.

 ** _Caroline POV_**

Flashes of bright light started filling her eyes as she struggled to open her eyes; confusion mounting in the outer reaches of her mind. It was dark where ever she was. She realized that she was getting jostled and she must be in the trunk of a car. No problem. She was weak but not incapacitated. She put her feet on the surface above her and kicked with all her might.

"Don't bother Caroline, it's been spelled. We'll be where we are going soon." She started feeling around for an emergency escape handle that some trunks had. Nothing. Ugggh, her hand went to her head. If it had been spelled it wouldn't work anyways. Her mother would be beside herself…again.

For a minute, she thought, maybe she could connect to Klaus the way they did in that vampire movie. So she closed her eyes and strained really hard. Nothing happened except that her head hurt. He did say not to get advice from television or movies. She looked around for something to use as a weapon but there was nothing.

After an hour she was tired of strategizing so she fell asleep. It was some time later when the car stopped and she was jostled awake. She was very alert now and ready to fight. She listened to the car door shut and then heels on the pavement. Tara stopped right outside the trunk and started chanting something. When the trunk opened, she stood there smiling at Caroline. "Now Caroline, it will do you no good to try to run." Caroline struggled to move, but it was if she was frozen in place. Tara leaned over, stuck a syringe in her arm and then pulled her arms to help her out of the truck. "Walk." She helped her into an abandoned building. Caroline looked around for any clue but there was nothing, she didn't even know what state they were in. As they entered the building, Caroline saw an elaborate cage made of iron. Tara nodded at the cage, "it's been covered in liquefied vervain, so you can't escape." Once inside, Tara attached chains to Caroline's wrists and ankles. Caroline was woozy from the amount of vervain in the air. There seemed to be an endless supply of it blowing through the old abandoned building.

Ugggh. She should have just stayed with him until this entire situation was over. What was she thinking? He did try to warn her. Now she needed to figure out a way to escape, however Tara had taken her daylight ring, so she wouldn't be able to escape during the day.

 ** _Klaus POV_**

"Okay so a locator spell won't work. Maybe some old fashioned investigation. If they are holding Caroline and torturing her, they would need a place to do that, away from civilization and private."

"Yes it would have to be strong enough to hold a vampire, which means they would have to build something substantial, like a cell or a holding cell…" Elijah added as he nodded at his brother, he liked where this was going. "It seems to me, we are a little too reliant on technology brother. We need to find Caroline the way we used to find people."

Rebekah piped in. "We can go to City Hall and research properties underneath the names that we have and see if there is anywhere that looks secure enough to be a torture chamber. Marcel and I can handle that."

"Elijah and I will find places that sell iron or chains strong enough to hold a vampire. I have a picture of a painting of mother. Surely she wouldn't have compelled everyone. We can also find out if Tara rented a car. She didn't have a car at her house, so we can narrow down her mode of transportation. If we are lucky, she rented it and we can track her that way. Let's stop by her house and get a picture. Sometimes you need to simplify. They would have cast spells to keep us off them because that is what they expect."

A half hour later, Elijah and Klaus stood outside Tara's lovely little house. Klaus used a shovel to break off the door handle, then seeing a young man walking down the sidewalk, compelled him to go inside and find a picture of a 'blonde woman', he added that he could trash the living room just to be funny. He did so without a hitch. Klaus raised his eyebrow at Elijah. "See we don't even need to be invited in. That is the beauty of creativity." Elijah smirked at his brother.

It was nearly an hour later when everyone returned to the house.

"So it turns out that Tara did rent a car. They narrowed her down to a city in Georgia but could only narrow it down to a five mile radius."

"I have a listing of all properties that were registered in Louisiana in the last thirty days, but maybe we can do a public search of properties in Georgia and see what was just purchased in the area."

Rebekah grabbed the information from Klaus and ran to the office to see what she could find out. A few minutes later she reappeared. "As luck would have it…there was a warehouse purchased in that five mile radius 39 days ago by a 'Veshtitsa Corporation'.

Klaus and Elijah both rolled their eyes, Bonnie didn't understand. Kol looked at her. "Veshtitsa means 'witch' in Bulgarian."

Bonnie nodded her head in comprehension. "Okay so we go in when?"

"Now." Klaus said.

"Brother, we need to be careful."

"If you think I'm going to give them a chance to get away, you are sorely mistaken." Klaus was adamant.

"Brother they are probably watching us in some capacity. We need to be careful. I think you and I should slip out the back. Everyone else should stay here. We can go get Caroline undetected."

"Fine." It was then that Bonnie gave them a suggestion. "I can cloak you." As she said it, Rose reached up and put her tiny hands on Bonnie's cheeks.

Klaus was becoming impatient, but Elijah was studying the child who seemed to be gurgling something at Bonnie. Bonnie turned towards them with a somewhat baffled look on her face. "Rose just gave me the spell and the power." She added.

She handed the baby to Kol and told Klaus and Elijah to join hands with her. She said a quick incantation, which caused a cold pocket to rise in the circle above their heads and then explode. Kol was floored that Elijah and Klaus seemed to disappear into thin air. This child's powers were unbelievable. He heard Bonnie talking. "Okay no one can hear you or see you except me. It will last about an hour so you can get out of New Orleans undetected." She let go of their hands and reappeared in front of Kol. "You disappeared."

"Only momentarily. They are on their way." Klaus and Elijah silently made their way through the house and to the back door. There was a cleaning woman in the kitchen who didn't acknowledge their presence but did look at the door quizzically as it opened and shut, shrugging it off as a breeze. Driving was out of the question, so they vamped to the town border, by the time all was said and done, the hour had passed, they commandeered a car and were headed to the little town in Georgia to rescue Caroline.

 ** _Caroline's POV_**

"Why are you doing this?"

"I'm doing this to save people from the likes of you and your boyfriend Caroline." Tara was slightly irritated that she was being thought of as the bad guy even though she clearly was at the moment.

"What did I ever do to you? Besides, I left Klaus." She was lying through her teeth. She knew that wasn't true and she knew that for whatever reason, she was falling in love with him, even if she didn't understand it.

Tara glared at her, knowing full well that Caroline and Klaus were in contact a lot before the link to Klaus was broken. Picking up a wooden stake, Tara plunged it through Caroline's chest, not killing her but definitely grazing her heart. Caroline screamed loudly.

"Aaaaargggghhh…I'm going to kill you Tara." "Dear, I don't think you are going to do anything to me."

Throwing her head back, her laughter echoed through the warehouse. Tara took a syringe out and dosed her with vervain again and watched while Caroline sagged against the floor.

 ** _Klaus POV_**

When Elijah and Klaus arrived at the warehouse, they stood in the shadows for quite awhile watching to make sure that was nothing unexpected. "I think Tara and Caroline are the only one's here. There's bound to be a spell protecting the property. So the question is, do we take our chances brother…or wait for her to leave? I think she'll be more vulnerable to attack as she is leaving."

"Agreed." Klaus found an old wooden hammer, he would aim at her head and knock her out, then grab Caroline if all went according to plan.

They sat there for what seemed like hours with no movement on the outside. Klaus could hear Tara moving around, still nothing. He thought he heard Caroline groan a couple of times, which made him lurch forward, but Elijah held him back and shook his head no. "Okay this is not going to work. She's not coming out. We've been sitting here for hours." Klaus was irritated and impatient. "New plan…I'll go in, kill Tara and you grab Caroline. Wait for the right time."

Elijah nodded as Klaus headed towards the front door of the warehouse. The heavy metal door creaked as Klaus stepped through it. He was walking around the first floor when he heard a noise above him, he vamped up to the second story and stood face to face with Tara. Smirking as he stared her down with his 'I'm the scariest hybrid in the world' look. She backed up slightly, glancing towards a room, which he guessed was where Caroline was being held. Lunging at Tara, and grabbing her by the throat, Klaus heard a scream escape the room beside them.

Tara smiled in between her coughs from the force on her neck. While Klaus held Tara down, Klaus looked towards Elijah who went into the room where Caroline was being held. Caroline was grabbing at her neck. "They're linked," Elijah shouted.

Klaus released his grip on Tara's neck. A mistake on his part because as soon as Tara could, she started chanting. _Phasmatus Ignitium Dos Ex Salvo, Phasmatis Ignitium Dos On Salvo, Phasmatis Ignitium Dos On Salvo._

The room where Elijah and Caroline were immediately caught fire. Klaus turned on Tara and stared her down. Raising her eyebrow and glancing towards the room, she said, "Your choice." Enraged didn't begin to describe the look on Klaus' face as he raced towards the room.

Tara took off for the exit. He broke through the wall and entered the room from the hole. Elijah had freed Caroline from her chains, but she was still very weak. Elijah looked at Klaus, "she's leaving." Klaus was more interested in Caroline at the moment.

"Let her go. We'll kill her eventually. Right now, let's get Caroline back." Although Elijah would have chosen the same course, he was surprised that his brother chose that route as his pre-occupation with vengeance was higher than the normal person. He nodded and they escaped through the opening and headed towards their borrowed car. Caroline was out most of the way back to New Orleans.

She woke up with a start about thirty miles outside the city. "Klaus I need your phone." He handed her his cell and she immediately dialed her mom who was not answering at the moment. "Hey mom, I just wanted to let you know that I'm headed back to New Orleans for a bit. I'll be back in a week or so. Just need to pick up some stuff. I didn't want you to worry." She hung up the phone and handed it back to Klaus. "She broke my phone when she abducted me."

"We'll get you another one love." Caroline slumped into the back of the seat. _Ugggh_. This was going to be her whole life. She wanted to go school and have a job. Do what normal kids do. This was anything but normal, but for better or worse it was her life.

She looked at Klaus in the front seat. He was quieter than usual. Maybe he was disappointed that she left. Although she thought they were over that. He was definitely holding something in. About an hour later, they finally pulled up in front of Marcel's. Caroline stepped out of the car and sighed. Here she was again.


	7. Chapter 7

_**AN: Thanks for the notes, loves and comments. More please :) It helps me stay inspired. I am back on track with this story...thankfully. I got really stuck in the last chapter then it occurred to me it was because Caroline was missing. Now she's back. Yay!**_

 _I do not own the Vampire Diaries or Originals Characters. I own the story. ****Note: This story contains themes of an adult nature, including and not limited to rape, murder, kidnapping, domination, submission and more. If you are uncomfortable with themes of this nature, please do not read. This is part 3 of a series following 'The Dead of Winter' and 'The Blood Rose'. This story may cause triggers and is rated M for intense sexual situations, death, domination and more.*****_

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

Caroline silently walked from the car into the house and straight up to the bedroom. Klaus followed behind her. His eyes trained on her trying to read her. "Love. Are you okay?"

"Klaus…no…" she spun around to look at him. "…no I'm not okay. I was just tortured for the sheer fact that I know you, that I am with you, that I…that I care about you."

"Caroline, I know that you are upset and I know the last week hasn't been our best week. But I'm trying. I'm trying to change, I'm trying to be a man that deserves you." She was stunned by that admission.

"I know that. I just don't know that I'm okay with how all this came about."

"Because I tortured you, you mean."

"Yes."

"I'm a dark man Caroline. I had centuries on the run from my father. It's not an excuse, it's a reason. I genuinely like adventurous sex and things of that nature. The torture…well…change doesn't happen overnight. I'd be lying if I said that it would or that I could change for you. There's hope but you need to be willing to accept all the parts of me, not just the one's you want."

"I know that Klaus. And I'm trying to. There's some part of you that I'm irreversibly drawn to regardless of what you have done. I hate myself for still wanting you after what you did to me. I feel like that abused girl that stays because she can't leave."

"Caroline, you can leave. I'll never try to stop you again. I'd want to but you have my word that I won't. If you want to leave, I'll wait for you. I will be the love of your life Caroline, in this century or the next." That statement made her happy for some reason. Knowing that he would let her go if she wanted to, knowing that he would wait if she wanted him to wait.

"Klaus, I miss you. I just want to take things slow. I need to know that you are the person that I think you are. I need to know that you can be who I need you to be."

"Caroline. I'm the only man in the world for you. This I know. I am exactly what you need if you let me show you." A feeling of absence washed over her as he spoke. She hadn't been in his arms in so long or talked to him that much. Whatever happened between them, she needed her own life and own goals. She didn't want to be constantly sucked into drama at every turn. Maybe there was a compromise. Although somewhere deep inside, doubt nagged at her core.

"Well I don't think we are going to figure this all out in one conversation."

"Probably not love." The silence saturated the air as the conversation lulled.

"Can we please just get through this situation Caroline? Once we are through this, I will do whatever you want me to do. We can go see your mom, or couples counseling or whatever it takes, but for right now, we need to stop my mother."

She nodded and half smiled. "I _am_ happy to see you." He walked towards her and pulled her into his arms. His heart ached to be close to her right now.

"I'm happy to see you too."He leaned back and smiled at her. "We'll get through this love. I promise. If I have to kill every witch in the world for what they did to you, we'll get through this."

Grimacing at the vision of him slaughtering innocent people, she nervously smiled at him.

Everyone downstairs with super vamp hearing had heard the conversation. Caroline had gotten over trying to hide anything around vampires. It was kind of useful in some ways, you didn't have to relay stories or hide behind things. It was all just out there. As they walked back down the stairs the gang was hanging out at the table. Everyone glanced up as Caroline and Klaus approached.

"Okay…" Kol clapped his hands together. "Now, back to our regularly scheduled witch program." He smirked and let out a laugh, Bonnie glared at him. "Oh come on wifey. I was just kidding."

Caroline caught that and looked at them both confused, Bonnie realized that Caroline had no idea that they got married. "We got married."

"When?" "Yesterday. It was for the baby…" she noticed the hurt look in Kol's eyes "…mostly." She threw that in and he immediately smiled. One thing was for sure, Kol had every intention of staying married to Bonnie permanently.

"Okay, if we can please discuss the issue at hand?" Klaus was really impatient and somewhat miffed that his brother was happily in love while his relationship was holding on by a thread. "So..Tara is in the wind. Our mother and Davina are in the graveyard…for some reason. We need to figure out how to stop them permanently. I have a strong feeling that Tara will be joining them in the graveyard shortly if she hasn't already. They have a coven of witches, we have a baby. Granted a very powerful baby…still it's twelve against one. But of course, we have four originals to their none."

Bonnie was listening to Klaus talk about the hopeless state of affairs when she crossed to the playpen to pick up the baby. As soon as her skin made contact with Rose's skin, her head flew back and her eyes went solid white.

* * *

 _She was walking through a vision. It was if she was walking through the event herself. She marveled at how real it was and that she knew it was a vision. She was having a lucid vision._ _Rose's grandmother sat in her chair looking down at the child who was playing on the floor. When she went to pick up the child, the grandmother had her own vision, which Bonnie could see as well. It was like looking at a picture in a picture. She saw a vision of the fire. This was well before the fire happened. Rose's grandmother knew she was going to die. That's why she insisted that Bonnie come to the house that day._

 _Once that vision was complete, it wooshed across the land to the graveyard where Tara, Davina and Esther talked about how to destroy the Mikaelson's and the baby. Esther began talking about a spell that would weaken them enough to stake them. It involved a boundary spell and the white oak stakes. Esther was arguing that they had enough stakes to take out Klaus, Kol and Elijah; and while the white oak stake wouldn't kill Klaus it would weaken him enough to imprison him and keep him down for a very long time. She was considering putting him at the bottom of the ocean where he could never be found. Rebekah she would deal with some other time as she was the least lethal out of all the siblings._

 _Then the vision changed, this time it was more fluid, like water. She saw Tara bursting into a tower of flames and out of the ashes came the white oak stake. Then she saw Davina burst into a tower of flames and out of the ashes came the fourth white oak stake. This was followed by Esther bursting into flames and the final white oak stake being revealed. Bonnie turned around, trying to make sense of it all. Each of them is tied to a stake. They have to be burnt offerings in order to reveal the location. The first stake had been taken directly from Claire. The second had been given. However the rest, were tied together and unless they died specifically by fire the location would never be revealed. Each stake was tied to each one of the remaining witches, so that as long as all of them didn't fall, the locations would remain a secret. It was a very intricate and difficult cloaking spell. No doubt Esther's doing._

 ** _How do we disable them or beat them? How can we burn them?_**

 _The vision then took her to an old tomb in the graveyard. As Bonnie walked into the tomb, a gust of wind blew through the dusty old building and a panel underneath a crypt blew off. She looked and there was a grimoire underneath in a hiding place. The funny thing was that the grimoire was not dusty like the surroundings like it had just been placed there recently. Bonnie took out the grimoire, amazed that she seemed to be able to touch everything. The book flew open to a page with a lot of writing and a spell. Bonnie studied the page. It was an ancient boundary spell, but this spell was different. It was specific to witches and it burned whatever was inside it alive. She looked at the engraving on the top. "Salem 1692". Once the incantation was said, it would trap the witch, then the second part of the incantation would incinerate the witch. It was originally intended for witches that were accessing black magic to do harm to humans. However, during the Salem witch trials, a Parrish Minister obtained the spell from a convicted witch, then being convinced that witches were casting spells against the townspeople it was used kill 19 more people total. The rumors that the children had created a fairytale were spread by the witches themselves to keep the identity of real witches a secret. The Minister was convinced that he had burned all the witches and since that time, witches were thought to be made up and the stuff of fairy tales._

 _Deciding it was easier to pick it up and bring it with her, she clutched the grimoire to her and had barely reached the door when the book flew backwards out of her hands. She spun around and saw that it disappeared._

 _ **Okay…not allowed to take it out of the tomb…or I need to get it in real life as this is a vision.**_

 _She looked around at the inside of the tomb, looking for anything that would help her remember the location of the tomb. She walked out into the bright day and turned to study the crypt. The letters 'Dubois' was etched on the name plate. Rose's grandmother had put the grimoire in the crypt because she knew that she was going to die. She wasn't strong enough to perform the spell herself even with Rose's help. She needed Bonnie to do it. It was absolutely silent outside, no birds singing, just eerie silence. Suddenly the sun became brighter and brighter until all Bonnie could see was a flash of light in her eyes.  
_

* * *

She started blinking her eyes and she could hear people talking to her. She could feel her entire body being shaken as she struggled to open her eyes. Everyone was standing over her. "Bonnie, Bonnie…wake up." Straining to sit up, she looked at everyone. "What happened Bonnie?"

"I had a vision."

"You were out for two hours!" Kol was desperately checking her for signs of injury.

"Two hours? That's impossible. I felt like I was only gone for a few minutes. Wait, where's Rose? I was holding her."

"Rose is fine. She is sleeping in the play pen. When Kol realized you were passing out, he grabbed her and you before you hit the ground."

Klaus was watching her carefully. "What did you see? Hopefully something that will help us."

"Oh it will help us. Rose showed me everything, including what your mother is up to."

For the first time in weeks, Klaus felt like they had the upper hand. "Let's hear it then."

Kol was helping her to stand and then sit before she started to relay the story. He vamped off to get her a glass of water. She smiled at him gratefully as she took the glass. "Well…in the first part of the vision…there were many parts. I saw Rose's grandmother. She had had a vision that she was going to die, which is why she called me to come over that day. Then it took me to the graveyard where your mother, Davina and Tara were. I think it was a memory and not a vision of what is to come. Your mother has a boundary spell that will trap you and weaken you. She plans to use that to kill Elijah and Kol and she is going to stake Klaus in order to weaken him, imprison him and drop him at the bottom of the ocean forever. Rebekah was going to be dealt with later."

She took a breath as she could feel Klaus' temper flaring. "After that it showed me a vision, which I'm not sure is the future or just a possible future, but first it was Tara bursting into flames then a white oak stake rising out of the ashes, followed by both Davina and Esther and the same thing….the white oak stake rising out of the ashes. I think it's because the remaining stakes are linked to each one of the witches and if they don't all die by fire, then they will remain hidden. Remember how we could see the location prior to getting the second one, but not after that? I'm convinced that is when this happened."

Everyone was listening intently to Bonnie spin her tale. "Afterwards, it showed me the tomb of Rose's grandma and great grandma. Underneath one of the crypts there is a compartment with a grimoire that has a boundary spell that incinerates it's occupants. It was originally used in the Salem Witch Trials. We need to find that crypt. It was in the 'Dubois' crypt, we just need to figure out where it is. Rose's grandmother put it there because she knew she was going to die."

"Why didn't she do it herself?"

"She wasn't strong enough even with Rose's help. Her grandmother told me that specifically when I went to visit her. I had no idea why at the time. I also think that is why the dining room burst into flames the first time. I think Rose was trying to do the spell, but she didn't have enough control and it's a big spell. She needed an anchor. The second time, she didn't even try because she knew that we were coming for her and that her grandmother put the grimoire away."

Reeling from this newfound information, Klaus looked at the baby. "Well you are just full of surprises aren't you?"

"You know she waited until you got Caroline back?" Bonnie threw him a look.

"How do you know that?"

"I don't, it's just a feeling."

Rebekah stood up. "Okay then, I'm going to go find out where the Dubois family crypt is since my entire role in this family docudrama is research. I'm not even getting killed." She threw in sarcastically. It almost sounded as if she was a little jealous that she was not considered dangerous enough to be added to the list of executions.

"Okay so we have the spell, how do we corner and kill three very powerful witches?" Elijah was contemplating out loud.

"Well it is my intuition that if our mother went through the trouble of tying the stakes to each of them that they are probably separated at this point. We will have to find them individually. After the first, she will realize that we know the key and she will attempt to redo the spell, then we can get the other two during that attempt. That is if everything goes absolutely perfectly." Klaus continued. "Marcel you used to be friends with Davina, did you not?"

Marcel looked up. He knew that there was a good chance that Davina would die over this, but at one time, she was like his daughter. He was devastated over this turn of events. He nodded half-heartedly. "Perhaps you can talk to Davina and try to get some information for us?"

"Look man, I know she tried to kill you. If I can keep her out of this, I'd like to." Klaus laughed out loud at that request.

"She's a child."

"She's a child that tried to kill me and my entire family…your family Marcel! Have you forgotten where your loyalties lie? Do I need to remind you?"

"Look…I know she has tried to kill you. No you don't need to remind me. I'm just asking for some time. Maybe I can convince her to give me the stake. If I can, will you let her go?"

Klaus stood and towered at Marcel, staring him straight in the eyes. "IF she gives up the stake, I'll consider it."

"That's all I'm asking man," his hands immediately going up in a defensive position in front of his body.

Thinking for a moment, he added "Marcel if she doesn't give up the stake, I'll definitely kill her."

"I know." Concern filled Marcel's eyes as he struggled with Klaus' statement.

Klaus went upstairs to his bedroom, followed closely by Caroline. "Klaus, are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"You seem a little bothered."

"I am." Pulling back, his eyes burned into hers. "I know that we have issues. We always have issues it seems, but I miss you and I need you right now Caroline." His voice was unwavering and persistent. He pressed his body towards hers, leaning his head down and kissed her hard.

She responded immediately. It was the first time in awhile that she felt their feelings perfectly mirrored each other. It was frustrating. It just never occurred to her that he was frustrated too; that he felt as out of control as she felt. From his perspective, he finally loved someone and she was doing everything she could to fight it.

He breathed out. "Stop thinking about it. We'll figure it out." That made her giggle and she kissed him back. She felt that familiar heat start rising in her again as she pulled him closer getting lost in the feeling of having him close. Roughly he forced her back on the bed as he landed on top of her, holding her in place as his tongue continued lilting down the skin of her neck.

He could feel himself getting hard as his body melted into hers. Reaching up with one hand, he ripped her top down, exposing her bra. "Wait…wait." She pushed against his chest. He withdrew, angry at first, then confused. "I'm taking my bra off. You keep ripping through my clothes…"

He smirked. "You know love I can afford to buy you more."

She quirked an eyebrow at him. "Yes I know Klaus, but I'd like to have the same clothes for more than a day." Growing impatient he reached behind her and undid the clasp with a flick of his wrist. At first she thought he tore it, but she just realized he was extremely adept at the movement. _Not thinking about how many times he's done that. Not thinking about it._

Grabbing a hold of his shoulders, she ferociously pulled him back towards her, catching his lips on his way down and thrusting her tongue in and out of his mouth. He answered back with an equal amount of passion as his hips were grinding between her legs. She could feel his erection pressed against her core through barriers. It made her gasp and she pulled him closer to her, groaning in response to the added pressure.

He leaned down, wanting to rip her jeans from her but instead opting to unbutton them, kissing each inch of exposed skin as he pulled them down her long slender legs. It was agonizingly slow to Caroline who was trying to force him where she wanted him. He smirked to himself. _She wanted slow…she was going to get slow._

As he removed her jeans, he smiled at her. She knew he was up to no good and she was in no mood to wait. Wrapping her legs around his torso, she used all her strength to pull him back in, but he grabbed her legs and pinned them on each side of him. Wagging his finger…"uh uh uh." She let out an exasperated groan, as he lowered himself between her legs and started slowly and softly running his tongue up and down her core. Pausing every now and then to feel her wiggle and thrust her hips up at him. Taking his forefinger, he rubbed her clit slowly, causing her to convulse. His violation continued for fifteen minutes and she was slowly starting to climb the walls.

"Oh my god Klaus…pleaseeeeeee."

"Please what love?" He pulled himself up directly on top of her, looking down at her closed eyes. "Look at me. What do you want Caroline?"

"Please…." Her body was grinding against him. He leaned down, close to her ear.

"Please what? Tell me Caroline. Tell me what you want me to do to you."

Hesitation filled her as she stumbled through the words in her mind. "Please I want you to fuck me."

"Keep your eyes open." He positioned himself at her entrance; his eyes penetrating her soul. He watched her, completely writhing from passion, it was a beautiful thing to him, watching her want him. With one quick movement, he filled her completely, she cried out in ecstasy finally getting the relief she had been begging for. He moved in and out of her, varying the speed and tempo. He could feel her walls tightening around his cock as it easily slid in and out of her wet tight cunt.

Cursing to himself, he could feel himself becoming undone. The wave of pleasure washing over him and he struggled to wait for her. She inhaled sharply and he joined her in their simultaneous release.

He collapsed on top of her; both of them covered in a thin layer of perspiration. She laid there for a few minutes, thinking he would roll off but he stayed right there. He raised his head and opened his eyes. Leaning down, he kissed her softly. The words between them not needing to be expressed at the moment. He slowly rose from his position and extended his hand for her to take.

Then he pulled her to him. "No matter how long it takes, we will work this out." He kissed her passionately. She nodded. In her heart of hearts, she loved that he was willing to work so hard to prove to her that he was worthy. He wasn't one to walk away when things got hard and that she loved about him. His sense of loyalty was unwavering.

They headed back down to the courtyard. Everyone had dispersed. He walked to the bar and poured them both a whiskey, which he handed to her as he joined her at the table. "So how are you going to get the three of them together?"

"I don't think we need to. I think as long as they all die by fire, the location of the stakes will be revealed. I think the fire is the key, not the fact that there are three of them."

"Well one thing is for sure. They've definitely thought out their plan."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, they had to. How else did Tara know where to find me? That would have required some planning. Obviously she knew we were still talking, but how did she know where to find me? And I was just a backup plan apparently."

His eyes turned gray. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, this didn't happen until you got the baby back. I was just leverage."

He agreed. It was a back-up plan. "I'm sorry love."

"Klaus I am glad you rescued the baby. I don't blame you. I'm just saying that every move so far on their part has been very well planned. I know they were tuning into you but your mother is smart. She is going to see every move coming. She knows you pretty well."

"Which means that we are operating from a defensive playing field as opposed to an offensive one." He thought out loud to himself. Caroline was right. She did know his moves. She knew how he'd react every time. He needed to stop being the decision-maker. The person she expected least to be in charge needed to come up with the plan…and that would be Rebekah. It wouldn't be easy for him to not be control, but it was the only way to come at them in a surprise way. "Right you are love." He smiled at her and then called everyone down stairs.


	8. Chapter 8

_**AN: I'm so sorry that it's taken so long. I am working on this chapter and I decided to post a partial chapter. I'll update the rest of it by Friday or so. Thank you thank you for the reviews!**_ __ _ **It means a lot. I think the story is back on track with Caroline back. Esther is on the move and we know what she's up to. Now they just need to figure out a way to stop her.**_

 _I do not own the Vampire Diaries or Originals Characters. I own the story. ****Note: This story contains themes of an adult nature, including and not limited to rape, murder, kidnapping, domination, submission and more. If you are uncomfortable with themes of this nature, please do not read. This is part 3 of a series following 'The Dead of Winter' and 'The Blood Rose'. This story may cause triggers and is rated M for intense sexual situations, death, domination and more.*****_

 _ **Chapter 8**_

Everyone gathered at the dinner table, looking at Klaus impatiently. There was much ado about everything that had happened. Klaus looked across the table at Rebekah, who was unaware what he was thinking.

"It occurs to me, actually because of Caroline…" he squeezed her hand "that our mother knows me too well. She knows exactly what I'll do in most cases." He paused. "But she doesn't know what Rebekah will do." It was true, Rebekah was barely a blip on his mother's radar. Esther had spent centuries studying Klaus and trying to make sure he would stay out of trouble. She barely noticed Rebekah and she didn't fear her.

Rebekah looked at Klaus. "So am I to guess that I'll be part of this family drama now?"

"Little sister, you are going to make all the decisions." He smirked. "…with oversight of course. So tell me what would be your next move?"

"I'd take what mattered most to Davina and Tara."

"Excellent. Let's find out what that is." Rebekah nodded at him and she and Marcel went off to do a little research on their own.

Klaus looked at Caroline, who was sitting silently at the table watching Bonnie and Kol. They seemed very happy together. In fact, she wasn't sure if she ever knew a more sickening sweet and obviously in love couple. Since the day they met it was pure attraction.

She turned her attention to Klaus, she wasn't sure he was everything she was looking for, she wasn't sure he wasn't either. The passion between them was like a tornado, a force to be reckoned with. It was intense. Does intense survive in the real world though? She'd always questioned the likelihood of soul mates. Everyone that she knew that considered themselves " _soul mates_ " ended up fighting a lot, but they loved as fiercely as they fought. Intensity didn't seem to her to be the key to a lasting relationship. In fact, she thought slow and steady was the way to develop an actual relationship. It seemed impossible to her that you could have two people that love each other with that much intensity without having them explode. She didn't necessarily think that soul mates were _meant_ to be together. They were equally destructive sides of the same force and when you put them together…bam! She needed to see calm from Klaus if they had any chance of getting through anything together. Shaking her head, she rejoined reality.

"Okay, so Marcel and Rebekah are going to go find out whatever is important to Davina and Tara. Take it and then what? Bargain for their complicity?" Caroline studied him carefully.

"Well...if Esther no longer has the coven's cooperation, it will make her much less powerful. If we can trade whatever that is for the stake. And we must remember love…Marcel is going to talk to Davina as well and try to talk her out of the stake. We have two aces on that front."

"If even one of them caves, then we have an advantage. If both of them cave, we have a coup." Sitting up suddenly and in an expected moment, he leaned over and pecked her on the lips. He stared deeply into her eyes. For a second, the thought flashed through her head that he was going to compel her. "Once this is over, we will be alone and we will spend some time alone. Just the two of us love." She smiled at him. Something in the way he said it made her believe him, so she leaned him and kissed him in return.

A few hours later, Rebekah and Marcel returned with the information they had dug up. "Well there isn't much as far as leverage brother. It took some digging, Tara has a mother and father in Kentucky. They aren't close, she talks to her mom occasionally. But once I started looking, I discovered she has a phone call every Friday to Kansas City. She has a little sister that attends university there."

"We should procure her."

"I'm leaving in a few minutes. Davina is a little more difficult. She has no ties. Marcel was her closest friend with the exception of a couple of witch friends in the quarter. I managed to find an ex-boyfriend but they never talk and I doubt that she would bargain for him."

Klaus nodded. "Marcel, it's time for you to have your little chat with our dear friend Davina." Marcel looked at Klaus grimly and nodded.

 _ **Marcel's POV**_

It's not what he wanted. He hated doing this. It was an impossibly difficult situation. He stood in front of the entrance to St. Louis No. 1 and sighed. "Davina!" He stood still as he waited. He knew she knew he was here, no sense in expending energy walking around.

He heard a sound to the right and turned to face the pretty teenager. "Marcel. It doesn't matter what you say. What are you doing here anyway?"

"Davina. What are you doing? Do you really think any of this is going to end well? If you screw over Klaus he will kill you."

"I'm not afraid of Klaus."

He walked towards her. "Well you should be Davina. He's impossibly powerful. Why do this? Why get in the middle of a Mikaelson war?"

"I'm doing this for the witches, not for Esther."

"What if there was a way to help the witches that didn't involve trying to take down Klaus?"

"Klaus will never change. He's evil."

"And Esther isn't? She is trying to kill her children. Her own children." He stared deeply into her eyes trying to figure out what her end goal was. "Davina look, I have to choose a side here and I'm choosing Klaus. Whatever he's done, he's always been loyal to those he cares about. He'd be willing to come to an agreement with the witches. I know him. Why don't you want there to be peace between the species?"

Davina started to walk away, Marcel grabbed her arm. "Davina."

"Look Marcel…for as long as I've been alive, vampires have always screwed over witches. I believe Esther when she says that this child is the beginning of the end. You haven't heard her talk about it. There's more to the prophecy Marcel. There is a peace between the species which lasts almost a thousand years, but it doesn't last forever. The last part of the prophecy says, that a descendant of the Mikealson family will betray the witches and eventually destroy all the species, including witches and werewolves. She believes…she believes that it will be the end of humans as well. While the prophecy doesn't talk about that, it does talk about a time where only vampires walk the earth."

"Come on Davina. You know better than to fall for some ancient curse. You have no idea where this came from."

"Marcel I'm sorry, but I'm helping Esther take down Klaus and the rest of the Mikealson family." With that she turned and walked away. Marcel looked after her, watching her disappear around a corner in the graveyard. It just didn't make sense. Why would the ancestors support a child who could destroy all the witches in the world? He knew the answer, he sighed. Because Esther was lying. The reason that no one knows that part of the prophecy is because its fake. He needed to figure out a way to convince Davina that it was fake.

He arrived at the mansion about twenty minutes later, Klaus was looking at him expectantly.

 _ **Klaus' POV**_

"So…what did our little witch have to say?"

Marcel looked at him with an irritated look as he stood there contemplating the situation. "She's not going to back down."

"Fine, then she's made her choice."

"Klaus, man, come on. She's in the middle of the Originals. She doesn't know what she's gotten herself into. She's sixteen."

"Marcel, I understand that you fancy this teenager…"

"Come on Klaus, it's not like that."

"Whatever it's like…she is trying to take down me and my entire family. She helped kill not one but two of her own kind and she's trying to kill a toddler. I mean I am not exactly the compass for morality, however…even I don't kill children."

"Look I get it. She's powerful and not thinking clearly. I just don't think she would make the same choice if she knew that Esther was embellishing the prophecy at best and lying at worst. Just give me some time."

Klaus narrowed his eyes at Marcel for a moment. "You have until the day after tomorrow. By then, Rebekah should be back with Tara's little sister and we'll have everything we need to proceed." Turning sharply Klaus headed up the stairs to his bedroom, where Caroline, sat staring out the window. Marcel turned and walked away.

"Love, everything okay?"

She smiled and turned towards him. "Yes. Everything is fine. I was just thinking."

"What were you thinking about?"

"I was thinking about when this is all over." Kneeling down in front of her as he looked into her eyes.

"I will keep my word love. It's not going to be easy, but somehow, we'll find a normal life, even if we have to go far away and live in a place where no one knows us." A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

"I believe that." She leaned forward and kissed his lips softly.

It was nearly nightfall when Klaus' phone dinged. He looked at Caroline. Rebekah has Tara's little sister. She is on her way back. If Marcel can convince Davina, we should have everything we need.

Caroline shook her head. "I don't know. I agree with Kol. Esther is too smart for this. She has a backup plan." Just as the words left her lips, they heard a commotion downstairs. They both vamped to the courtyard and joined the rest to face off with the visitor.

He stood there, yellow eyes, staring at everyone with his hands in a defensive position.

"Why are you here?" Klaus demanded.

"I'm here to talk. My name is Jack. I'm the pack leader for the Crescent Wolves." Klaus' face began to turn as he stared him down.

"Do you know whose house you have wandered into mate? Do you have any idea what position you have put yourself in?"

"Yes. Please just listen to me. I'm here to offer a truce."

"Go on." Klaus stated, not backing down.

"Look this isn't our war. The leader of the witches promised us moonlight rings if we'd look the other way, but things are getting weird and people are dying. We just want to stay out of this war."

"And what do you want in return?"

"The same. Moonlight rings. We know a losing battle when we see it." All of the sudden from back in the corner, a soft cry was heard, causing every being in the room to turn around. Rose, had some how climbed out of the playpen and was crawling towards them. As if by intuition, everyone stepped aside to see what she would do.

She crawled directly to Jackson. He looked at everyone, confused. He picked her up not in a menacing way but in a calming way. Everyone was floored. It was as if the prophecy was unfolding in front of them. He went to hand the child to Bonnie, but she cried.

Hiding his confusion, Klaus demanded. "Do you know this child?"

"No. I've never seen her before." He glanced at Caroline, then at Bonnie. "Can you make moonlight rings?"

"As long as someone has the spell, I should be able to do it with Rose's power."

Klaus turned back towards Jackson. "Fine. If the werewolves stay out of this fight, we will honor the truce that was offered by the witches." They exchanged a few more sentences and Jackson departed the compound.

Despite the unexpectedness of the event. Klaus was pleased with this latest development. He knew that Jackson hadn't entered the compound with malice as it was spelled against that, however, he did not expect a truce to be forthcoming. Esther was quickly losing ground in this war and he would find a way to end her once and for all.

After everyone calmed down from the intrusion, Bonnie and Kol took Rose upstairs to bed and retired themselves. Just as Marcel was getting ready to ready to depart. Rebekah entered, flopping the unconscious girl down in the chair.

Klaus studied his sister carefully. "Is she alive?"

"She's alive. Bloody annoying but alive. I had to knock her out. All her screaming was ridiculous, as if it would do her any good. I got bored with listening to it."

The girl was barely seventeen with blonde hair. Caroline's heart skipped a beat as she remembered how she was forced into all this. One day, everything was normal and the next day it just wasn't. Tomorrow she would wake up, remember that she had been kidnapped, find out there were vampires, witches and werewolves. If she didn't already know given that her sister was a witch. However, she doubted it. She looked like a completely normal college girl, who now through no fault of her own was thrown in the middle of a war between vampires as leverage.

She squeezed her eyes shut. She knew that it was necessary, but it didn't mean she liked it or accepted it. Glancing over at Klaus, she knew there was good in him. She'd seen it. His ability to toss that out the window at a moment's notice to win though did not go unnoticed by Caroline. It scared her. The dark part of him that called out to her. She liked it…the danger. It would be a lie to say she didn't. There was part of her that longed to embrace her darker side. Words echoed through her head that she would become a monster eventually. She would do everything she could to keep them in the light. Or at the very least 'light-like'.

Klaus noticed Caroline's thoughtful demeanor. "Love…you've been awfully contemplative all day."

"I have. We'll talk about everything after. We can't afford to lose focus. I'm not sure what Esther is up to, but this is all too easy."

Rebekah piped in. "I agree brother. It was way too easy. Wouldn't Esther had researched Tara's family?"

"Put her in a cell. We need to keep her out of sight." Rebekah nodded and picked the unconscious girl up and took her down to the catacombs beneath the house.

Klaus watched Rebekah disappear behind a door, then turned to Caroline. "Come on love." Grabbing her hand, he pulled her up from the chair. "Now…close your eyes." Laying his hand on her cheek as he caressed it softly.

As her eyes fluttered shut, she didn't know what happened, although she could tell that he had vamped them somewhere. When she opened her eyes, they were on the roof of the house, with a bottle of bourbon and soft music playing. He held his hand out at the stars. "Is this not normal?" A devilish smile spreading across his face.

She laughed as she pulled him towards her. "Klaus its perfectly normal." Throwing her arms around him, she drew him into a deep kiss, her eyes sparkling in the moonlight. They fell backwards on the blanket that was there.

He withdrew slightly. "Caroline…I…know that things are…" He picked up the bottle of bourbon and handed her a glass as spoke.

"Klaus…it's okay. I just need to know that some normal is coming."

"Let me finish. I know that I'm not…Prince Charming…I'm usually the villain in fact. That said, you make me want to be more. I've never met someone like you. You are smart and calculating, but you use it in a way that is good. You fill me with such light that I haven't felt in so long."

She couldn't help but smile at him. _Good or bad…right or wrong. Villain or hero. He was him. And she was pretty sure she was in love with him._

"I love you Caroline. Maybe it's…not what you want…b..but.."

"I love you too Klaus."

He sat back unsure of what had just happened. Her admission was unexpected.

"Klaus. You are completely stubborn and you scare me. I'm not going to lie. Your vengeance is a little alarming, but I do love you. I just needed time to figure it out. I need to figure out how this affects our life together…you being who you are. How do I have a normal life? I want to go to school. There are things that I want. I need to know how you fit into that."

He pulled her close to him. "We'll figure it out Caroline." His lips landed on hers with such force that it pushed her backwards. She stopped resisting and just wrapped her arms around him. All the while…the words going through her head.

" _Be warned though, while you have the power to drag the one you love into the light, the road will not always be smooth. There is always the chance of darkness sneaking its way back to the surface. If you go on this journey, make sure it's one you want to be on as long as you live, as he will plummet to the depths of darkness without you."_

The words that Rose's grandmother had said to her echoed through her mind as she kissed him. She could never leave him. Good or bad. He would become an all consuming darkness without her.

He sat up and downed the rest of his glass of whiskey as he looked at her. "Shall we love?" She took his hand and they vamped back to the room where they consummated their feelings in an upheaval of passion so intense that they didn't stop until morning. He vowed to protect her from whatever evil entered their lives and she knew that he would do whatever it took to keep that promise.

She turned to look at the man lying beside her and smiled before drifting off to sleep.

Caroline was jarred from her sleep by a sound coming from beside her. She jerked around to see Tara's sister on top of Klaus trying to stake him with a white oak stake. She had him subdued with vervain ropes.

"Klaus!" She got behind the girl who had unreal strength at the moment. Klaus was struggling against her and screaming. Caroline managed to get her arms around, but the girl flew them backwards against the wall. "Marcel! Elijah! Rebekah!" Caroline screamed as she struggled to keep the girl from breaking her neck. Nobody noticed that Marcel did not answer the call.

Before she knew what happened, she saw the girl's neck being snapped and she fell to the floor. Caroline immediately rushed towards Klaus. The stake had vanished into thin air. She threw the vervain ropes off his skin, ignoring the burning sensation in her own hands as she thrust them across the room.

"Nik are you okay?" She looked into his eyes as he nodded to her and then vamped out of the bed to look at the girl slumped on the floor. "How the hell…"

Bonnie was standing in the doorway. "She didn't enter the house meaning to do harm. She was unconscious." She glanced sideways at Klaus. "There's always a loophole. She was spelled."

"Well that was a little close for comfort." Klaus stated as he looked at the newly turned vampire. "Esther." He said out loud. "Well at least we know why it was so easy." He raised an eyebrow. "Sister, can you please make sure she is well secured since a normal cell doesn't seem to be quite strong enough for her."

By the time everything was settled, the sun was on the horizon and they all sat around the table discussing the situation at hand.

"So I have a question. How does a seemingly human girl, turn into a vampire, get a white oak stake, penetrate a spelled compound and almost stake an unkillable hybrid? And where did the stake disappear to?" Caroline proposed.

"I've been thinking about that…" Bonnie started. "I think the stakes are connected to people. I think that the stake is somehow connected to Tara. Therefore, it always returns to her somehow. I'm going to try to track the white oak stake again. Since it was physically here, maybe I can draw on the residual magic it left behind."

"Alright then…shall we return to the scene of the crime." Klaus stood and motioned towards the stairs and his room.

Everyone filed up the stairs to the room, as Bonnie drew a circle of salt with a triangle in the middle of the floor. " _L'arme filium. Pa kenbe ex oculus. Indi."_ Bonnie's eyes rolled back in her head as a swirl of salt started levitating in the air. Her eyes turned pure white as she threw her head back in a trance.

Everyone watched silently unsure of what was happening. She then threw her head forward, as if suddenly awakened.

She looked up at Kol who was standing there, worry covering his face. Then turning to Klaus she smiled. "So…Tara has the stake. She's back in New Orleans. We have to burn her to reveal the location of the white oak stake. I don't think she knows though. This magic isn't Tara's magic, it's Esther's. Tara has no idea the white oak stake is tied to her. One of the visions I received was of Tara arguing with Esther about knowing the location of the white oak stakes."

Klaus thought for a moment. "Does Tara know what she is doing? Is she spelled like Tara's sister?"

"I don't know. I suspect after the first witch gave the white oak stake to you of her own free will, Esther hid the rest of them without the other witch's knowledge so that they would not be able to cave to the pressure from Klaus."

Klaus squeezed his eyes shut. "So Davina and Tara probably don't know that they are conspiring with the losing side and there is nothing they can do to stop."

"Okay. Let me think." He studied Rebekah. "Okay dear sister. What would you do?"

Rebekah thought for a moment. "Well…Esther is obviously still in control of the situation. I don't know Nik. I think we need to concentrate on Esther. She is distracting us with all these games and people. Meanwhile, she is mounting a war against us. If we kill her, her spell ends, the location of the white oak stakes will be known to us. And bonus, mommy dearest is gone."

"Right you are sister." He pointed at Rebekah. "And Caroline…what would you do?"

"Well I would use diplomacy to throw her off and then turn on her. She's not going to go down easily, but if the weakest of us caved to the pressure and went over to her side, that would be the best plan. But which of us would she believe. Obviously Klaus wouldn't and Marcel is loyal to Klaus. Elijah is highly unlikely. Rebekah maybe. She wouldn't trust me based on my feelings and the fact that you would burn the world if she attempted to harm me. I think the most likely ally is Bonnie. She's a witch. She can use that as a way to convince her."

"But she knows that she has been using magic against her. Esther is misguided but she's not stupid."

"Yes, which is why you have to do something that would not be okay with the witches. Or at least make it look like you did something to the witches."

Bonnie stepped forward. "It might work. If you started taking witches hostage without the intent to harm them, it would look like you are moving against the witches. We stage a disagreement and let one person escape just to add to the believability. It may work. I can do a protection spell on myself and link myself to an object with a redirection spell so that she can't possess me. Then when I need to, I can turn on her, then we can take her down when I discover her weakness. I still have Rose's magic. We just have to discover how to keep it, without Rose thinking that I have switched sides." Bonnie looked down and the baby was sitting there, holding her hands up. Bonnie reached down and picked her up as the baby placed her hands on each side of her face and looked into her eyes. Bonnie closed her eyes.

"Okay…" she glanced at the baby. "Rose is on board."

Klaus shook is head in disbelief. "Okay then. I guess the only thing left to do is for me to go a little barmy then." He leaned over and kissed Caroline. "My love."


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Notes: The Harvest storyline did not happen in this story. I hated that storyline, although I love Davina and I loved everything up until that point. In this story, Sheila did not transition into a vampire either.**

 _I do not own the Vampire Diaries or Originals Characters. I own the story. ****Note: This story contains themes of an adult nature, including and not limited to rape, murder, kidnapping, domination, submission and more. If you are uncomfortable with themes of this nature, please do not read. This is part 3 of a series following 'The Dead of Winter' and 'The Blood Rose'. This story may cause triggers and is rated M for intense sexual situations, death, domination and more.*****_

 **Chapter 9**

A wind blew through the quarter. Klaus stood in the intersection of an opening between two alleys as his glance wandered upwards from window to window. "Witches of New Orleans! Hear me now. Surrender or I will kill you all one by one!" He took a pocket torch and set fire to one of the many porch awnings that was near him. Vamping from opening to opening he started shredding wood and throwing it in the center…eventually the entire courtyard was ablaze in fire. A younger man appeared in the courtyard.

"We have no quarrel with you, Klaus Mikealson. Leave this place, you are not welcome here."

"Well I have a quarrel with you. You would join my mother in a war against MEEEE." The witch started repeating an incantation but it seemed to have no affect on Klaus as he rushed the young man and knocked him unconscious.

"Klaus! What are you doing?" Klaus spun around to face Bonnie. "This is not the way Klaus! These people are innocent." Kol vamped into the opening right behind Bonnie.

"Klaus! Stop!"

"INNOCENT?! No ONE is innocent! No! This is going to end one way or another."

Bonnie immediately started chanting a protection spell around the opening, but before she could finish, a tall blonde walked into the opening. She immediately stopped and watched the scene unfold in front of her.

Turning on his heel and sensing her presence, with an evil smirk on his face. "Tara. Well well. You know I was just having a conversation with your sister this morning. She decided to pay me a visit."

"Release my sister Klaus or I will kill you."

Klaus laughed in spite of himself as he looked at her with equal venom. "My love. I'm going to lock you both away until you are starving to death and then I'm going to rip out her intestines in front of you and compel you not to look away."

Tara's face went from superior to enraged in a matter of seconds. She started to chant but before she could finish, Klaus had his hand around her throat. "No no no love…not today." But instead of giving in, she surprised him by maneuvering her way around. He vamped around to grab her and was met with the side of her foot.

He turned around again. There was a fury of fists and grunts as Bonnie watched the swirls of air around the fire. Then all the sudden, Klaus had Tara on the ground by her throat. "Give up. I will lock you away until this is all over and your sister wont' be harmed.

"NO!" Her hand came up between his arms which he clearly wasn't expecting. It was almost a reflex when Bonnie saw the fire swirl up as something hit the fire. When the motion stopped she realized it was Tara and rushed forward. But she was stopped by a force as her eyes immediately flew back into her head and she immediately saw the location of the third white oak stake. She looked at Kol quickly before she ran down the alleyway. Kol nodded and went towards Klaus.

"Klaus. Stop." He grabbed his brother.

Klaus stopped to look at the slumped over witch lying on the ground. He stared up and looked at the windows. "Know this witches of New Orleans! I will be back to exact punishment on all those who oppose me." Reaching down he picked up the unconscious witch and threw him over his shoulder.

An hour later, Klaus appeared in the courtyard of the manor. Caroline was looking at him expectantly. "Well?"

"Well I killed Tara. It wasn't intentional. She caught me off guard. I think I made an impression. I'm not sure where Bonnie went." He looked at Caroline with a glint in his eyes. Kol had disappeared after they left the opening in the alley.

Just as he said that, Kol appeared in the hallway to the main street. "Brother."

"Brother. Everything okay?"

"Yes our newly acquired guest is incapacitated in a cell with some of those handy witch handcuffs. How are things elsewhere?"

"Going according to plan brother." Kol raised an eyebrow.

 **Bonnie's POV**

"Esther." She called out as she walked into the courtyard. Her eyes searched from side to side as she walked between the crypts and tombstones.

She heard the voice before she saw her. "Why are you here?" Bonnie turned to the voice behind her.

"I'm not sure to be honest." She met her stare with the same intensity. "Things are just getting out of control. Klaus…"

"You mean my son isn't the hero you imagined?" She walked thoughtfully, pacing back and forth.

"He killed Tara." Esther's gaze changed to a slightly panicked look.

"How do I know I can trust you?" She looked at Bonnie. "You are a witch, but you've been helping him track my magic."

Bonnie kept her voice steady. "You don't." Her face hardened. She softened a little. "Is there a way to take the child's powers away without killing her?"

Esther turned to face Bonnie. "I'm not a monster. It's not that I want to kill a child. She's part of a prophecy." As she continued pacing, she explained the child's connection to the prophecy. Things became a little cloudy with the connection to the Original family, which Bonnie had suspected. Esther stopped short of telling her anything that she didn't already know. "There may be a way to save the child. But Klaus has to die."

Inside Bonnie was a little shocked at her absolute disdain for her own child, despite how complicated he could be. "How do we save her? Rose is innocent."

"We can transfer her powers to me and then I will raise her to make sure the prophecy is never fulfilled."

The statement kind of floored Bonnie as she watched the woman pacing between the crypts and pillars of the graveyard. "What do you need me to do?"

"I need to cast a spell on you." Esther countered.

"What kind of spell?" Bonnie took a step back. She had done a protection spell, but she had also done a Redirection spell that was connected to an object so that if Esther did any spells, they would be redirected to the object instead of her.

"I need to do a binding spell on you."

 _The white oak stake binding spell_ …Bonnie thought. "Is that the only spell?"

"No, it has a spell that binds us together as well. That way I can make sure that you are loyal to me."

"Fine." Esther raised her hands and a circle appeared around them. Esther grabbed Bonnie's hands and started to chant.

 _Liga sudem huic pythonissam meum pythonissam senum miserti sunt. Veniat ad me si quid igitur eius futura. Liga sudem huic pythonissam meum pythonissam senum miserti sunt. Veniat ad me si quid igitur eius futura. Liga sudem huic pythonissam meum pythonissam senum miserti sunt. Veniat ad me si quid igitur eius futura._

The light flew through Bonnie and dissipated through her body. Fire appeared in a circle around them and then burned out with a rush of wind.

Bonnie knew her thoughts were safe because she had put a certain amount of energy and thought into the object and now that the object was bound to Esther, there should be a way to destroy the object without destroying them both. She needed to find an unlinking spell. But she couldn't, Esther would definitely know. Kol needed to find an unlinking spell.

Esther smiled. "Now go back and be my eyes and ears."

Bonnie looked at Esther. "I can't. The compound is spelled against anyone that is intending harm."

"Well it's your spell isn't it?"

"Yes but it was bound by Rose." Bonnie lied.

Esther studied her carefully as if searching for the truth. It did make sense that they would ensure the safety of the compound by casting a protection spell. "You can stay at Tara's. 2823 Barrone Street." Bonnie nodded as she left the graveyard.

She had to assume that she would be watched every second. She had left the object with the redirection spell hidden at Rose's grandmothers house. The item was the white bunny that was left behind at Rose's. It had a certain amount of symbolism. Since Bonnie had brought up wanting to save the child, she didn't feel it would be out of place for her to visit there.

She had left a note for Kol to check there the next day. Only he, Klaus or Rebekah would be able to decipher the note that she had left as it was written in norse. He had helped her write several versions prior to the meeting. Each with different instructions based on how the meeting with Esther went. Since she had foreseen the linking spell, the unlinking spell was part of the note that she had left. She had spelled it with a cloaking spell so no one besides Kol could see it. She simply slipped it in the ground as she picked up the bunny.

Then she left for Tara's.

 **Kol's POV**

Kol watched the property for hours for any movement. Deciding it was better to cause a distraction, he set fire to a garage down the street. Nothing moved so he approached the property. They had meticulously planned where to look, and as suspected, a note was shown to him as soon as he was within two feet of the spot. He grabbed it and immediately vamped out off the property.

As he walked into the compound, Klaus was waiting as he usually was in the courtyard. "Well?" He watched Kol.

"She's in. I need to find an unlinking spell. She's linked to Bonnie. However, as Esther is actually linked to the object and not Bonnie, there may be a way around it."

Klaus nodded at his brother. Elijah walked in at that moment. "Nik. Kol. So while you've been off chasing Esther I have been researching our friend Davina. So it seems that the elders are not entirely happy with her. I'm wondering if there is a way to get the elders to take away her powers through Rose? The rumor is that Rose is destined to be the Regent of New Orleans. We'd need to find a witch that is powerful enough."

Klaus studied Elijah. "Interesting." Klaus walked towards Rose who was busy playing with some blocks in the play pen. Rebekah was busy having a non-sensincal conversation with the toddler. He leaned down and picked up the baby. "Is there any way to drain Esther's powers using the elders?" The baby stared at him gurgling.

"Nik, what exactly are you doing?" Rebekah, on the verge of laughing, was watching her brother stare at the baby.

"Well I thought she might send a vision or give me some grand inspiration for whatever the bloody hell we are supposed to do."

"I don't think it works like that Nik." Rebekah smirked.

He turned to look at Rebekah while holding the baby at arms length. "Do you have any brilliant ideas sister?"

Caroline walked in. "You know she seems to have more of a connection to women in general." She took the baby and looked at her. "Rose, can you help us?...I think we need a witch." She narrowed her eyes.

"Great. Every witch in New Orleans hates me right now." Klaus grimaced.

"So maybe we look outside New Orleans brother." Elijah added.

"Kol. What do you think?"

"I think its worth a try, but its going to take me a day or two to locate a witch that can handle that kind of spell. We do have Rose's powers, but they are being utilized right now as the anchor for Bonnie. Perhaps that's why she can't help. She is after all a child."

"Didn't Bonnie mention that her mom is a witch which means she's a Bennett witch as well?" Klaus raised his eyebrow at Kol.

"Great idea. I'll go pay her a visit. I am her son-in-law after all." Kol flashed a charming smile.

Rebekah piped in. "Kol. I'm not sure I would lead with that information."

Kol nodded as he took off for the door. "So I guess all there is to do now is wait." Klaus looked at Caroline who seemed in much better spirits today. "Love, would you care to join me for lunch?" Her smile lit up his heart as she nodded.

Rebekah and Elijah stood there in shock. "Niklaus…our fate hangs in the balance and you are simply going to lunch?"

"There's nothing to do right now Elijah. I could stay here with you…" he tilted his head. "Or I can take the woman I love to lunch and come back when there is something to do. I think I'm going to take option two." He flashed a brilliant smile and grabbed Caroline's hand as headed towards the door.

"Great. Nik gets to go have lunch and I'm stuck here as the babysitter." She smiled down at the baby who was vastly unaware of anything but her blocks at the present moment.

Elijah smiled at Rebekah because he knew that being a babysitter was not at all a problem for her. She loved children. "Yes we know that is such an imposition Rebekah. I'm going to go do some more research on our little friend's family."

"Brother has it occurred to you that no one has seen Marcel in the last thirty-six hours?"

"Now that you mention it, you are correct Sister." He looked around the compound, trying to listen for movement. A few servants, the baby, Rebekah…no Marcel. "I wonder where he could have gotten off to? He was missing during the attack on Nikklaus."

"Yes he was. He was visibly upset about Davina the other day. It is perhaps something to note."

"Do you think we should tell Nikklaus?"

"Elijah please…Marcel is a lot of things but he isn't a traitor. Besides let Nik have lunch. I wouldn't put it past Marcel to seek Davina out again though."

"Yes, but we aren't going to kill her."

"Yes but he wasn't here for that conversation. No doubt he has heard that Klaus killed Tara, whether he meant to or not. Marcel doesn't know anything that is happening right now. He left after dinner the night before last. It didn't occur to me until today because there has been so much happening."

"Did you try to contact him?" Elijah was becoming a little worried.

"Yes. No answer."

"Okay. I'm going to go locate Marcel. You stay with the baby."

"If I have to." She smiled brightly.

 _ **Marcel's POV**_

"Elijah." He said without turning around.

"I thought I might find you here drowning your sorrows."

"I don't like hurting children Elijah."

"Yes, well had you stuck around, you'd be part of the new plan."

"Klaus killed Tara. I heard. Fine. Tara was an adult, but Davina is a teenager. She has no idea what she's gotten into. I don't agree with the witches trying to kill a toddler, but I don't agree with Klaus trying to kill a teenager either."

Elijah turned to look at Klaus' adopted son. "You really are an honorable man, Marcel… Look we aren't going to kill Davina. We found another way."

Marcel turned to study the older Original brother.

"You know we can't talk here."

"Fine. Let's go back to the house." Marcel downed his whiskey, laid a twenty on the bar and followed Elijah out of the establishment.

When they walked in, Rebekah was sitting in the courtyard rocking the toddler to sleep. She was the picture of a young mother rocking her child to sleep Elijah thought. Had the fates not twisted them so, she would have made an amazing mother.

"Fine so what is going on." Marcel said impatiently.

"We think Davina and formerly Tara were spelled to not betray Esther and they possibly are tied to the stakes. One thing is for sure, when Tara was burned, the location of the third white oak stake was revealed."

"Where is it now?"

"Kol assured me its in a secure place. The point is Marcel, we are attempting to take down Esther without killing Davina."

"So why did Klaus kill Tara?"

"He tried not to. Tara would not give up."

"Well be that as it may. I'm not going to let that happen to Davina."

"I don't think you'll have to worry about it Marcel. We are working on a way to take out Esther. You just need to trust us."

"Fine."

Marcel departed, still not happy, but at least sated for the moment.

 _ **Caroline POV**_

They walked into the quiet restaurant. He held her chair out as she sat. "Love." The waitress approached them as they sat.

"May I get you some drinks to start with?"

"Two bellini's please." Klaus nodded at the waitress.

They spent a couple of hours discussing mundane things and laughing. She appreciated that he was going out of his way to keep things normal for her, although the timing was a little off today. There was a war brewing between the witches and Originals after all, still she appreciated the effort.

So she paused. "Sooo. You tried not to kill Tara?"

He stared at her. "Caroline I did try to dissuade her. She was not in control of herself. Throwing her on the fire was an unfortunate reaction. However," he tilted his head to the side. "when she died we did get the location to the third white oak stake." He raised his eyes up to meet hers.

"Well, I didn't like her very much…I still feel bad that she died though." He smiled at her humanity.

"So. Are you ready for our trip to Mystic Falls?"

"Yes. I am. Do you know where it is?"

"Yes. I'm familiar." She had a feeling there was something more there but didn't push for information.

"Well, I'm afraid it will be boring compared to what you are used to. It's a pretty small town."

"Well love, I don't know. You'd be surprised at how much value I place on small town life."

She raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Really?" Her tone registered as sarcastic but she was really surprised by his answer.

"I grew up in a very small village. I miss the simple nature of it, where everyone knows each other and people look out for each other. I think it's why I value family and loyalty so much."

"So can I ask you a question?"

"Sure love…anything."

"Why did you dagger them? It was them in the coffin room, right, back in the mansion?"

"My father was after us. It was a decision I made to keep them safe. At the time it seemed like the right decision, however, having the opportunity to do it over, I may have chosen a different path. My siblings did not react well to it."

Her eyes widened at his deduction. "I can't imagine why."

Shifting uncomfortably in his chair and realizing the extent of his sharing at the moment, he decided to change the subject. "Well…enough about me. Tell me about you."

"I grew up perfectly normal until my father came out of the closet and left my mother. I had a happy childhood. It's hard to have a bad life in Mystic Falls. It's very apple pie. I grew up with the same people all my life. Everyone knows everyone." She laughed. "I was even Ms. Mystic Falls in my junior year.

"Wow. Ms. Mystic Falls. I didn't realize I was in the midst of royalty." He mused trying to picture it. Caroline running around planning dances and events. He wasn't too far off.

"Ha ha. Laugh, but it's a big deal there. The founding families are very involved in the town. Well everyone is involved."

He smiled. "I'm aware."

A quizzical look came across her face. There it was again. "Okay, what is that?"

"What is what love?"

"What is that thing you are doing? Have you been to Mystic Falls before?" She stared at him.

"Yes I have been there. In fact, I lived there for a short time."

"What?" That was unexpected. "Well isn't that ironic? I get forced into slavery by a guy and end up with someone that happened to have lived in the same town I grew up in?"

"Well I admit, it is coincidental but I assure you Caroline, it is a coincidence." Satisfied, she dropped it. _It was an awfully big coincidence. Maybe it was meant to be. What are the odds?_

The rest of lunch was uneventful, mostly just chit chat. Once they were finished. "Shall we return to our drama love?"

As they exited the restaurant, Caroline noticed how beautiful it was outside, taking a moment to appreciate the bright blue sky. It was also fairly warm. It seemed as if spring was trying to make an appearance.

Opting to walk back to the mansion, everything seemed right with the world as they walked down the street hand in hand. Then a shocking reality hit them both as they turned into an alley to cut across streets. Caroline hands immediately went to her head as she collapsed to her knees. She turned to look at Klaus that was not in much better shape. He was yelling as he clutched his head in his hands. They heard a voice and were flung against opposite walls.

A witch they didn't recognize was standing there staring at them. He was handsome and fairly tall with a very distinct New Orleans accent. "Hello. I'm going to make this fast." He drawled. "I'm Vincent Griffith. Now I have received information that you attacked some witches in the quarter and set fire to awnings and so on. I'm also in possession of information that you have one of our brethren locked away in your mansion."

Klaus struggled. "Listen to me…" Vincent twisted his hand slightly, causing Klaus to scream from a pain a that ripped through his body.

"Talk…but if you try anything, I have three other witches watching and they will incapacitate you in ways that you may regret."

"Look. We can't talk here. Bring your witches and I will take you to your witch." Vincent nodded and released them both.

The three other witches walked out of the shadows and joined Vincent. "What the hell Klaus?" She said under her breath as they walked with the witches right behind them.

He smiled at Caroline. "I'm improvising since you hate it when I kill people." He whispered loud enough for her to hear but no one else. As they approached the compound, Klaus was interested to see if they could cross the threshold. Surprisingly, they were able to.

"Elijah. Can you go get our witch friend?"

"Look I can't explain everything to you. However, I do not intend to harm any witches."

"You killed Tara."

"Yes, but it was an accident and she was in collusion to destroy my family."

"Mr. Mikealson. I can tell you don't intend harm, but if you ever kidnap any quarter witches again, we will mount a war against you and while we may not be able to kill you, we can ensure a lifetime of torture. Remember, Claire? Imagine that times fifty."

"Mate, it would do you well not to threaten me. I understand that this situation has been unfortunate, however, if you imagine that I am in any way afraid of you, you are mistaken." They stood there locked in a stare that was unnerving. Neither of them flinching. "Perhaps. We should just agree to desist."

Caroline was watching the supernatural pissing contest going on. It was very obvious that Klaus and Vincent did not like each other, even if they didn't intend to harm each other. This went on for several minutes before Vincent spoke.

"One question, _mate_. Cornelia had a grand daughter that has disappeared. Do you know where she is?"

"Yes. I can assure you she is safe and she will not be harmed."

"Can I see her?" Klaus studied the man for a minute. "Rebekah! Can you bring Rose please?" Rebekah descended the stairs with the bubbly baby, who immediately reacted to Vincent. He went to take her from Rebekah but Klaus stood in front of her. "Understand that you can not take her from here. She is in danger."

Vincent's look burned through Klaus. "Understood." He took the baby and she giggled. Putting a pudgy hand on each side of his face, they saw Vincent close his eyes. When he reopened them, he stared at the child.

"Fine. She needs to be returned after all of this to her family."

Rebekah chimed in. "What family? We have been searching."

"We're her family now." Rebekah nodded.


	10. Chapter 10

_**AN: Thanks for all the notes. We are nearing the end of the series.**_

 _I do not own the Vampire Diaries or Originals Characters. I own the story. ****Note: This story contains themes of an adult nature, including and not limited to rape, murder, kidnapping, domination, submission and more. If you are uncomfortable with themes of this nature, please do not read. This is part 3 of a series following 'The Dead of Winter' and 'The Blood Rose'. This story may cause triggers and is rated M for intense sexual situations, death, domination and more.*****_

 **Chapter 10**

Bonnie walked into the graveyard. It was difficult being away from Kol, but she knew in her heart that he would go find her mother. She had made a point of telling him about her. She was the only other witch she knew that could hold her against a witch like Esther. If her mother got hurt though, she would never forgive herself.

Esther was sitting at an altar performing a spell of some kind when Bonnie entered the crypt. She half rolled her eyes and finished it with a smile. "Esther, you called."

Esther turned and smiled. "Bonnie. Welcome." She turned to face the pretty girl. Bonnie smiled to herself that Esther had no idea she was married to her son. "Today is a big day."

"A big day?" Bonnie pried.

"Yes it is, leave the details for me. But trust me you are not going to want to miss it. Today is the day that we take down the Mikealson's."

"Aren't you a Mikealson?"

"Yes I am. I meant my son, Klaus. Without him, the rest of the family will crumble. With him out of the picture, we can take down the rest of the family and get Rose." Bonnie felt her ire rising with the thought of something happening to Kol.

She raised her eyebrow. "So what's the plan?"

"Well for starters, I need you to stay here." She smiled and walked out of the crypt. As soon as Esther left the crypt, Bonnie clutched her head. A ripping pain went through her head as she caught glimpses of Klaus on a slab, then a vision of Rose saying "friend". At that moment, an electrical surge went through her body and she felt power coursing through her body.

 ** _Klaus POV_**

"Good morning love." He rolled over and looked at the beautiful blonde in bed with him.

Caroline smiled. "Good morning." She leaned in and kissed him. Last night had been amazing. Whenever she looked at him, she could feel this never-ending intensity, whether it was love or vengeance, it was intense.

From somewhere outside, a loud boom surged through the compound. Caroline looked at Klaus with panic. They both vamped from the room towards the sound. The entire front of the compound was gone. Klaus looked around trying to see what caused the explosion, slightly confused by the scene in front of him. "Is everyone okay?" he shouted at Marcel and Elijah.

"Yes everyone is fine I think. What in the hell…?"

Klaus was looking through the opening where the explosion originated, when Finn made an appearance. He stopped in his tracks, completely caught off guard.

"Brother." He looked around. "Apologies for the damage."

"Finn. What are you doing here?" Klaus was seething.

"Well Brother, I had to retrieve something. You know it took us awhile to figure out a workaround to the protection boundary. Then it occurred to us, it wasn't about us getting in. It's about getting you out."

"Finn I assure you I am not afraid to come out." Klaus walked towards him, when from somewhere off to the side, Finn pulled Caroline in front of him. She was in and out of consciousness.

Klaus went to rush forward when Finn revealed a blade that looked like it was fashioned out of bone. It had a leather handle and gold studs. Klaus stopped short. "Not so fast brother. Do you know what this is?"

"The weapon I'm going to tear your heart out with?" Klaus proposed.

"No, its Papa Tunde's Blade. I hear it causes extreme agony to the person that its stabbed with."

The rage was flowing from Klaus' eyes. Caroline was woozy and she came to, confused by what was going on. "What?" She started looking around, straining to move.

"If you harm one hair on her head. There will no end to the torture I will cause you until you are dead."

Finn smiled. "Well, lucky for you brother. I'm here to offer you a deal."

"What deal?" Klaus's face was strained as he watched his brother press the blade against Caroline's chest.

"You for Caroline."

"Nooooooo." Caroline put her hand up. "Klaus you have to help to help Rose. You are the only one that can." Klaus stood there, furious, swallowing back the anger that was welling up in his throat. He looked away and swallowed.

Looking back up, "Fine."

"Mind you if try anything, she is compelled to kill herself in front of us both by any means necessary."

Marcel and Elijah started to come forward. Klaus put his hand up though and stopped them. "No. Protect Rose."

As Klaus walked towards Caroline, who was crying. "No Klaus. Don't." Finn smiled before shoving Caroline towards Klaus and Elijah. He then turned and stabbed Klaus in the chest with the blade.

Caroline was screaming as Elijah held her arm. Klaus watched her sobbing as he grabbed his chest in agony. His eyes saying everything, then they closed. Before she could react, Finn grabbed Klaus and disappeared with him.

"Caroline come on." They pulled her into the compound. Her demeanor going from devastated to angry. She was trying to think.

"What are we going to do? They have Klaus! Esther has Klaus!" She didn't realize how elevated her voice was.

"Caroline, please calm down. Yes, they have Klaus. He isn't dead. They haven't figured out a way to kill him if they are using that blade." She looked at Elijah, who always seemed unreasonably calm in every situation.

"Right. Good. Okay. So what do we do?"

"Well, it's lucky I'm here to save the day." Kol stepped into the courtyard. Everyone turned to face the younger Mikealson.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Bonnie's mom, Sheila." A beautiful woman, who had Bonnie's unmistakable green eyes, stepped into the courtyard.

"Hello."

Elijah was the first to step forward and greet her. "Welcome Ms. Bennett. I'm sorry that the compound is in somewhat of a bad state at the moment." Looking around at the debris left from the explosion. Everyone else followed Elijahs' lead and greeted the woman. The woman that was compelled to watch Rose stepped forward with Rose. "And this is Rose…who you've no doubt heard about."

"Yes. What a lovely child." She smiled. The woman disappeared with Rose to put her down for a nap. Caroline was pacing back and forth.

"What are we going to do?"

Kol started. "Well we can assume that Davina is linked to Esther just like she thinks Bonnie is. So we need to find a way to unlink Davina. If we can catch Esther off guard we can kill her."

"We have to burn her to find the other white oak stakes."

"Well there are two more white oak stakes left. One we can assume is tied to Davina and the other to Esther. When we destroy Esther it should show us the locations of both."

 ** _Bonnie POV_**

There was a rumble at the entrance to the tomb. Bonnie spun around in time to see a man carrying Klaus. He not-so-gently threw him on a slab of stone in the middle of a circle. Just as her vision had shown her. Rose was trying to communicate and she knew that she was channeling power to her. _Okay…so Klaus is here, unconscious and tortured judging by the twitching and groaning coming from him._ She was ashamed to admit it but she was glad it wasn't Kol. She wasn't sure she could maintain her composure in that case. Klaus was a little… _easier_ to see like this. One thing was for sure, she needed to be ready when it was time.

Finn came and went, probably in search of his equally evil mother. She paced for a bit and then alternated that with sitting on a stone step, which she guessed was an altar at one time. The minutes seemed to drag by as she waited.

 ** _Caroline POV_**

"Caroline, excuse me for the impoliteness of what I'm about to say, however, we can not be sure of your loyalty right now. There is no way to undo any compulsions that Esther and her minions have put on you. For everyone's safety, we should try to keep you barricaded." Caroline studied Elijah as he spoke.

"You're right. What can I do?"

"I would suggest we do a boundary spell and keep you somewhere that you are unable to harm yourself or anyone else."

Sheila nodded. "Do you have a place in mind?"

"Yes. There is a studio on the third floor with a bed and a chair but nothing else that should suffice as a weapon or anything troublesome." Caroline sighed.

"Okay, lead the way. Fourth quarter and I'm sidelined." She begrudgingly followed Sheila and Elijah up the stairs. Elijah was right though. She had no idea that she had even been compelled. She didn't want to be responsible for anyone else getting hurt, especially with a baby in the house. That, she was pretty sure she'd never forgive herself for so this was the better option.

As they reached the third floor. Sheila performed a simple boundary spell. Caroline tested the boundary and of course it was in tact. "Elijah. Please save him."

"Caroline. My brother is rash and sometimes difficult, however, we have a bond that runs deeper than any other on earth. I will bring him back." His chiseled face held no hint of anything except absolute success. He nodded at her. "If anything happens, call for Marcel." She nodded at him once more before he left. She turned around and looked at the dusty studio space. It was quite bare with a hint of having been somewhat fabulous at some point in time. Sighing she flopped backwards on the bed to stare at the ceiling.

 ** _Elijah POV_**

As he reached the first floor with Sheila, what was left of their ranks sat at the table in the courtyard. Marcel and Rebekah were looking beleaguered and over-wrought. Kol was…well he was actually quite chipper considering his wife was in bed with the enemy. He had absolute confidence in the fact that Bonnie was every bit as brilliant as she was beautiful.

"So we are down to six. One human, one vampire and three originals. Well you have to give mother credit, she was able to take down Klaus. We need a plan. Klaus, even though he is daggered and down, is safe for all intensive purposes. They can't kill him or they would have. Our mother will expect instantaneous retribution for this. I don't think she has the power to do anything further without Rose's power."

"We do have a plan." Kol added. "Bonnie is not tethered to Esther. We rush in. Attack her from both sides. She won't be expecting that. She thinks that Bonnie is loyal to her."

"Kol. Rushing in thinking that mother isn't prepared for anything is a fool's errand. Although you are right about Bonnie." Elijah paused. "What are the odds that she knows about Sheila though?"

"Well, no doubt she has researched anyone that is close to anyone involved. She knew about Caroline and her mom, so we have to assume that she knows about Sheila. Our only ace in the hole is that she doesn't know about the spell that redirected the spell from Bonnie to rabbit."

Sheila spoke up. "If Esther is linked to the rabbit. We can do a spell to subdue her magic for a minute. If we can do that, secure her, and kill her. Everyone should be released from her hold."

"Should be?" Elijah questioned.

"Yes. Should be. Esther is a powerful witch. She could have secured the spells using another's magic instead of her own and it would prevent the magic from dissipating with her death."

"How can we tell?"

"Do we have the rabbit?"

"No..but we have Rose, it belonged to Rose so we have direct connection."

Rebekah walked towards the room where the nanny was playing with Rose. "We'll be needing her then. Stay here." She picked up Rose who smiled at Rebekah. As hard as Rebekah tried to be, she just couldn't. She tickled the toddler and she giggled.

Sheila looked at Rose as Rebekah handed her the baby. The baby smiled and put her hand on her cheek.

"She does that when she likes someone."

"No…she does that to see who is her friend and read thoughts." Sheila corrected Rebekah. "Now Rose, I need to do a spell on your white bunny." Sheila handed her back to Rebekah for a minute. "I need salt." Elijah looked at Marcel, who immediately left to get the salt and returned before anyone even knew he left. "Salt."

Sheila poured the salt in a circle in the middle of the courtyard. In the center she poured a pile of salt and drew a triangle with a triangle in the middle. She took the baby in the circle with her and everyone watched her carefully as she started chanting. " _Phasmatos Oculacs. Phasmatos Oculacs. Phasmatos Oculac."_

There was a swirl of smoke around Sheila and Rose that was so thick that no one in the room could see them. Elijah started to rush forward when Kol grabbed his arm. "It's fine." He mouthed. Kol watched in amazement as the entire room was swept up in a tornado of smoke that swirled around the two beings in the circle.

As the smoke died down, Sheila stood for a moment, both her and the child in a trance-like state. She released the power of the circle and looked at everyone. "So there is a cloaking spell on Esther's magic. She is redirecting Davina's magic to secure the magic, which leads us to an equally alarming problem. We can kill Esther, but we can't release the spells without killing Davina or finding a way to unlink Davina from the spells. My belief is we need to kill Esther first, then unlink Davina. My fear is that if we try to unlink Davina it will kill her.

"No. That is not an option." Marcel spoke up.

"We may not have a choice." Sheila looked at him.

"Find one." He was adamant in his reply. "I don't care what we have to do. Davina does not die in this. She is a seventeen year old girl."

"I need to talk to the ancestors." She nodded at him. She went to leave.

"Sheila, if I may…It may not be safe for you to roam New Orleans without an escort." Elijah proposed.

"I'll be fine." With that she turned and walked out the door. Elijah looked uneasy. Not only did he not know this Sheila very well, he was uneasy putting his fate in the hands of a witch that was in no way associated with the Mikealson family. It seemed risky to him. He knew that Kol trusted her though for some reason, and that was a little reassuring.

It was hours before Sheila returned from the graveyard. "I called a friend with a direct connection to the ancestors. They gave us a spell to strip Davina of her powers. The ancestors are not happy with Davina, but they feel that she is being played by Esther. If Davina has no magic in her, then this particular magic can not be used against her, especially since she is the anchor for all Esther's spells. We to strip Davina of her powers, kill Esther, then destroy the bunny. In that order. After that, we _should_ be able to find the white oak stake and destroy any magic associated with Esther. We can count on Bonnie to keep Esther down to kill her."

"How will Bonnie know what to do?" Elijah questioned.

"Because she is my daughter and she will know to take the cue from me."

"Forgive me, but isn't that a lot to depend on?"

"Elijah it will be fine. I would never let anything happen to Bonnie. We have safe words set up so she knows what is going on."

"I'm sorry, pardon me?"

"Bonnie and I set up call words for different scenarios. The one for this scenario is 'excruciating'. Once she hears that word from me she'll know that she needs to take Esther down on cue. There was just no other way to ensure it working."

"I find it disconcerting to leave my fate hanging in the balance over one word."

"Brother, will you trust me? It will work."

"Fine. Let's make plans to leave in three days. We need to secure the child. I know exactly who to call."

"Three days?"

"Yes. I want our mother to think we've given up on Klaus."

Elijah headed off towards the common room, but returned quickly.

The rest of the group stood there. "Vincent is going to watch Rose. Since they are adopting the child afterwards, I figure he is the safest bet to protect her."

Sheila looked surprised. "You know Vincent?"

"Yes, we had a slight misunderstanding, but we are all on the same page now. Okay so we need to surround Esther as much as possible. Marcel, you need to get Davina to the graveyard somehow."

Marcel shuffled. "It's not going to be easy and I swear Elijah, if anything happens…"

Kol moved towards him. "Marcel. We haven't always been the best of friend's mate but I give you my word, nothing will happen to Davina. Need I remind you that _my wife_ is also in harms way." Again, Sheila's face contorted. Kol thought and looked at her. "Yes I know we married for the child. But Sheila, I do love her and I do want to stay married." Sheila just smiled at him.

Elijah continued. "Kol can provoke our mother with his _call word_. Once Davina is in the mix, Sheila start the stripping spell. Once that is done, Kol can cue Bonnie to take down Esther. Once Esther is disabled, I'll remove the blade from Klaus and we'll kill Esther. Then we'll destroy the bunny and everything should work like a charm."

Rebekah piped in. "And what am I to do?"

"Dear sister, you have one of the most important jobs of all. You need to take out Finn, whom I know will be watching us."

"Take out? Do you mean kill him?" Rebekah became nervous at that thought.

"Of course not! You are going to dagger him and tuck him away where he can not do harm for a couple hundred years." Elijah handed her the dagger and white oak ash.

"We need to be prepared for anything. Mother is smart and she always has a back up plan. I suggest we all think about that."

"Might I suggest we use the tunnels that run underneath the house to leave. That way Rebekah can catch him off guard before they know what is happening."

"Yes. I think that is an excellent suggestion Marcel."

"Brother…I need to talk to you for a moment in private." Kol took Elijah off somewhere out of reach of the other vampires and Caroline who was no doubt listening from the third floor.

When they returned a few hours later, everything seemed to be in place. So they waited.

 ** _Bonnie POV_**

When Esther walked in, Bonnie half rolled her eyes. "So yea, this was exciting and all, but can I leave now?"

"I don't understand. I would have thought they'd come for Klaus."

Raising her eyebrows. "Well obviously they have better things to do. Besides. It's not like Klaus is everyone's favorite and pretty much every witch in New Orleans hates him. Maybe they just don't care."

Esther studied the girl. "Maybe. Maybe they've finally seen him for what he is. They've always stood by each other regardless of what he's done in the past. I'm just surprised. Still you should return tomorrow in case they needed time to regroup."

The next day was more of the same. Bonnie sat on a stone step watching as Esther started becoming frazzled. Esther was truly unnerved as she looked at her son. Her plan wasn't working. Bonnie could tell she was starting to second guess herself. Her incessant pacing back and forth was annoying. She kept going over the plan with Bonnie for when they showed up. But again, nightfall came without an appearance from the Original family.

On the second day, Esther started researching ways to link the original family and kill them all including Klaus. Unable to find anything, she became more and more agitated. "I'm going to see Davina. I'll return before nightfall." Do not go out and if anything happens, have Finn find me."

Finn had been coming and going, he was watching the mansion, but nothing. Finn never underestimated his brothers, but even he had to admit, this was so unlike the Original family. Esther returned that evening, even more agitated that Davina had not heard anything either.

 ** _Elijah POV_**

"Well you'll be interested to know that we have a visitor." Sheila said quietly.

"Oh I know, which means our mother is becoming nervous that her plan didn't work. It's exactly where we want her. Second guessing herself and getting nervous at our lack of response. Tomorrow it begins."


	11. Chapter 11

AN:

 _I do not own the Vampire Diaries or Originals Characters. I own the story. ****Note: This story contains themes of an adult nature, including and not limited to rape, murder, kidnapping, domination, submission and more. If you are uncomfortable with themes of this nature, please do not read. This is part 3 of a series following 'The Dead of Winter' and 'The Blood Rose'. This story may cause triggers and is rated M for intense sexual situations, death, domination and more.*****_

 **Chapter 11**

Bonnie walked into the graveyard with an ominous feeling. The air was thick and it was a dark gray day. Her thoughts drifted to Kol. The time away from him had made her think differently about their marriage. She thought she really did love him. When it was Klaus and not Kol being brought into the crypt, she silently thanked the universe.

As she reached the decaying door of the crypt and entered, she saw Klaus still laying on the slab tortured and thrashing about in his state. Esther was silently working on a spell and didn't even acknowledge her presence as she concentrated on the circle of salt in front of her. Bonnie waited for Esther to finish the spell. It was some sort of location spell based on the incantation, however, Bonnie had not heard enough of it to be sure what she was doing.

Finn was lurking in the shadows doing whatever. Bonnie looked around. Everything looked rather calm considering she was sure that all hell would break loose any moment. Hours passed though and nothing. Just waiting for the inevitable. Part of her was starting to doubt that they were coming. Maybe something happened. Maybe Kol was killed. She had no idea and she hated being held in limbo without any communication with the rest of the group.

She watched Esther who really was very talented and very ritualistic in the way she did magic. She was also predictable.

Suddenly there was a noise outside and she jumped as she looked towards the door. Esther barely glanced, but she did nod at Finn and Bonnie then walked out the door of the crypt. Elijah stood there with Rebecca.

"Mother. You have our brother I understand. I'm giving you the opportunity to return him to us and we will go."

Esther laughed. "Elijah. I consider you the smartest of my children." Rebekah felt a pang in her heart. "You know that your brother needs to be put out of his misery."

"Mother. I'm very sorry to hear you say that." Elijah started towards Esther when she started chanting a spell that caused both Elijah and Rebekah to fall to their knees. Esther looked around for Kol, expecting him to make an appearance, but she heard him. She couldn't see him. Davina came out of the shadows and caught Bonnie off guard. Davina moved forward, but she was unable to move beyond a certain point.

Out of nowhere Marcel rushed forward, covered Davina's mouth and forcibly removed Davina from the equation. He threw her in a crypt. Davina came forward but it was secured. "Marcel what are you doing? Let me out! I'll never forgive you for this."

He lowered his eyes to look at her. "If that's what you need to do. At least you'll be alive." Then he disappeared.

He returned in time to see Kol and Sheila come forward. Sheila was chanting " _Phasmatos Tribum, Exum Sue, Redem Su Pas Quo"_ which seemed outwardly to have no affect on the witch who was still managing to hold down Elijah and Rebekah.

"Mother stop this insanity." Esther looked at her child standing there.

"Kol, this was never going to stop. There is no turning back now." As she finished her statement, she heard chanting behind her. Bonnie had started doing a paralyzing spell on Esther which caused her to fall to the ground. Esther looked up at Bonnie. "But how?"

She lay there unable to move. Elijah and Rebekah were released from their pain and Rebekah first snapping Finn's neck, then daggering him, rushed into the crypt where she saw Klaus lying on a stone slab. "Don't worry Nik. I'm here." Pushing her hands between his ribs, she could feel the blade pulsating inside, it was if the blade itself was alive and responding to the invasion. She grabbed ahold of the blade and pulled it as hard as she could out her brother's chest.

Klaus opened his eyes to see Rebecca standing there. "I can't move quite yet but thank you sister." He heard the commotion outside. "Caroline?"

"She's fine. She's locked away. She's been compelled by mother. We have to kill her Nik." Klaus saw the look in his sister's eyes. Despite all of the family drama, he knew that Esther's death would be very hard on Rebekah who had always yearned for a mother's love.

Outside the crypt, Bonnie was holding Esther. Kol took out the rabbit and held it at bey. Sheila began an incantation to destroy the magic within it. It was a drain on her though. Bonnie joined her mother as she held Esther. And before anyone saw the blur that flew by them, Esther laid there with a gaping hole in her chest. Bonnie yelled " _Phasmatos Incendia"_ before Esther took her last breath and she burst into flames.

Bonnie rushed forward to look at the bunny. "We still need to defuse the spell in the rabbit to find the rest of the white oak stakes." Bonnie and her mother joined hands. As they started to repeat the incantation " _L'arme filium. Pa kenbe ex oculus. Indi."_ Klaus collapsed to his knees. Neither Bonnie nor her mother noticed this as a green light escaped from the rabbit and blew a sharp wind through the graveyard as it disappeared.

As the spell finished, Bonnie rose. "I only know where one of the white oak stakes are." She looked at Kol. He helped her up and he vamped off with her.

As Klaus and Rebekah looked at their mother and brother. "Don't worry Bekah. I won't kill Finn. I should, but I won't."

"And mother?"

"We'll bury her. She doesn't deserve it, but we'll bury her." He studied his sister. "Where's Caroline.

"I'm here." He looked just as she vamped into the room. "Sheila told me that the boundary spell would dissipate as soon as I wasn't compelled anymore." She ran to Klaus, who picked her up in a passionate hug as if he hadn't seen her in months.

"I don't ever want to be without you again Caroline Forbes." He looked into her eyes deeply. "Just curious love. Did you see anything when Esther died?"

She looked at him. He could tell she had.

"Let's talk about it later love." He smiled and leaned down to kiss her. "We have quite the mess to clean up right now."

A few hours later, everyone returned to the estate and was gathered around the table. Bonnie was cheerfully holding the baby who she had missed terribly. She looked at Kol. "You know I think I want to adopt some day. If I'm going to be eternally tied to an original vampire and give up having my own, I want to at least have one."

Kol smiled down at her. "Sweetheart, we'll adopt 10 if you want. So…four of the five white oak stakes have been recovered."

Klaus started. "I'm not sure that we'll ever recover the fifth. But we'll keep looking."

"Yeah I'm really surprised that it wasn't revealed." Bonnie added as she was playing with the baby.

"Love. Would you like to join me?" Klaus grabbed Caroline's hand. Everyone looked very happy, the threat seemed to be over and he wanted to spend some time alone. He vamped them off to a beautiful but deserted field. He listened for a minute.

"Do you hear that love?"

"No…what?" Caroline looked into his blue eyes.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. No enemies. Nothing." Klaus smiled down at her. "So what vision did you see when Esther died?"

"I think you know."

"Yes, I believe Rose, showed it only to the two of us. You can never tell anyone in my family that the last white oak stake is attached to you. I trust my family, but I know if it comes between me and you, they will choose me. No one can ever know."

"I know Klaus. It does make it a very precarious situation."

"No. I think Rose showed only us so that it could never, in any situation, be used against us. I will protect you forever. Whether you love me or not. My life depends on it." He was very serious as he said it.

"I know Klaus. It was a very risky move on Esther's part. Still very smart. Compelling me, she knew that they would lock me up and that I wouldn't be there at the end battle. If nothing else, your mom was smart."

"Yes she was."

"Will you miss her?"

"Will I miss the woman who has tried to kill me more times than I can count?" he paused and smiled. "No. I don't think so. She wasn't always bad though. I suppose that I will miss the times before we turned a little. I always have. After all, she did what she did to ensure that we would never die. Now she has included you in her diabolical plan. I suppose it was a last dig…putting the woman I love in danger for the rest of her life from the people that I value and trust most."

"Well I guess at least we are the only one's that know. That's some comfort."

"No we aren't."

"We aren't?"

"Rose knows."

Caroline got scared for a minute as he said the words. "Oh don't worry love. I have more than one reason to trust that Rose will continue to be my friend. In my vision, I saw her as a grown woman and she told me that she would never reveal the truth. She also told me that there has to be a balance in nature. That if you were to leave and I went bad, that there had to be a way to take me down. She also told me the only way you would leave is if someone else killed you. Mind you…I'm not usually one for threats, but in this case, I know I could never kill you and I know I would never let anyone else harm you, so I do believe that we are safe for now."

"I know. Your friend the witch that we went to visit that time, told me that I needed to be careful of my choice to be with you, because if I ever left you, you would turn darker than anyone has ever witnessed. It was a lot for me. But I think when I did finally know, that I just did."

"I'm not easy Caroline. I know that. I will endeavor to keep you safe and live a normal life with you. I just can't promise that it will always be smooth sailing. After a thousand years, I have a lot of enemies."

"I know you do. We will face them together." She paused. "But that doesn't mean we need to kill them all either. Sometimes, Klaus, you just need to say 'I'm sorry'.

Laughter exploded from his belly. "Yes, I do believe that is something I have not mastered at this time in my life."

They lay in the field, staring up at the stars and just enjoying the peace and quiet. Klaus finally stood up and said "Shall we love?" Caroline smiled at him and took his hand.

When they returned to the compound a little later, Vincent was there to pick up the baby with his wife. Bonnie was having a really difficult time saying goodbye, but Rose went right to them. "Don't worry Bonnie, we'll take care of her. She's the future leader of our coven. Nothing will happen to her."

"No I know. It's just hard." She smiled at the little girl. "The most powerful witch in the world and barely three. I just can't help but thinking what kind of life she'll have." Rose put her hand to Bonnie's face. Bonnie saw a vision of her and Kol. Bonnie was older, but not too much. She had a baby and Kol was acting like an idiot running around with stuffed animals. A single tear escaped her eye as she hugged the little girl.

"I wouldn't worry too much. I think she'll be pretty normal as long as the powers of evil stay away. We'll do a cloaking spell on her just to be safe so she appears like any other baby in the world. She'll go to school and lead a normal life."

Bonnie smiled at him as she shook her little pudgy hand. "Kol and I will go with you tomorrow to take care of the paperwork." Vincent nodded at her and said goodbye to everyone and they left with the baby.

Kol grabbed Bonnie's hand as she took a seat at the table. "It's okay sweetheart. It was what was right."

"I know. I just found myself hoping that we never located another relative." Sadness spread across her face. "She was such a happy baby."

Suddenly Kol looked at Klaus and Elijah. "What did you do with Finn?"

"Oh he is locked away where he can't cause trouble for a very long time. Btw…thank you Bekah. You handled that beautifully. I admit I had some doubts about whether you would be able to take out your own brother."

"Well Nik. I am an amazing fighter and besides Finn has always been kind of a Debbie downer hasn't he?" She smiled. "I do want to have a service for our mother."

The original family groaned. "Come on. She was our mother. And there were times that she tried in her own way to love us." She paused and looked at Nik. "I'm sorry." He knew intuitively what she was apologizing for.

"I think our little sister is right. Let's have a burial for her. I mean how many times do you kill your mother?" As macabre as it was, it was ironically funny. Rebekah knew that Nik was doing it for her and it was times like this that she appreciated her older brother.

The next day, it was beautiful out. The sun was shining, it was if the entire world was full of life again…for the time being at least. They buried Esther by the old mansion that they had lived in, out in the middle of a field that only they knew the location to. Everyone except Klaus and Caroline said a few words and it was done.

Later that day, Marcel was asking about everyone's plans. Elijah had already booked a flight back to Chicago. He was taking over Klaus's businesses for awhile and he wanted to spend some time with Hayley. It had been so long since he had seen her.

Rebekah was staying with Marcel as were Kol and Bonnie. Bonnie loved New Orleans. Deep in his heart, Kol knew it was to keep an eye on Rose, but he didn't care. Sheila left, not really saying where she was going, just telling Bonnie that she would stay in touch. Everyone looked at Klaus and Caroline. "What are you doing big brother?"

"Well I have a date with a bbq." His siblings looked at him quizzically. "Caroline and I are going to Mystic Falls and we are going to have cookouts and go on dates."

"Are you moving back into the estate brother?" Elijah looked at him with a shocked look on his face. Caroline's expression matched. Klaus looked at Caroline and smiled.

"Yes. After all, it does belong to the family. I figure we can spend awhile there and then maybe travel."

"Wait. You have an estate in Mystic Falls?" She looked at Klaus.

"Well to be fair, it belongs to all of us. It's probably in bad repair, but yes we do."

"I think we need to talk some more." Caroline gave him a stern look that said…this isn't going away this time.

Marcel piped in. "When are you leaving?"

"Probably the day after tomorrow. I just want to make sure everything is calm here again."

"Still no sign of the fifth white oak stake. I did ask Davina if she knew, but she didn't."

"Ah speaking of our little witch. How is she?"

"Once Esther was dead, all of the memories came flooding back. She was grateful that I got her out. She has done magic on herself to see if there is any residual magic left, but there isn't. It isn't tied to Davina or it's a very powerful spell if it is."

"And she didn't know anything else?"

"No. She swore she didn't know. She actually did think the stake was tied to her. She was shocked that it wasn't. I saw her face man, she doesn't know where it is. She even did a truth spell in front of me. She doesn't know."

"Well I'm sure we'll find it eventually."

"You seem okay with this Klaus. That is unusual." Elijah looked at his brother.

"Well every witch that was involved is dead with the exception of Rose and she's…well she's a child. We don't know where it is. But if we don't know, no one knows. I'm not sure if there is anything we _can_ do about it."

"Perhaps you are right." Elijah relaxed. "Every witch is dead. Finn is daggered. I would say that, at least for the moment, we are out of harms way."

The next morning Caroline woke up with a feeling of relief. For the first time, she felt like she had a normal life. There were no enemies, for the moment, they were packing today to go to Mystic Falls. She couldn't wait to introduce everyone to Klaus. Despite the fact that he was the world's most powerful creature, he was also devastatingly handsome and extremely charming.

He rolled over and stared into her beautiful blue eyes. "So love, are you ready to go start our adventure?"

"Oh my god yes!" She smiled. "I can't wait for you to meet my friends and my mom. And go to the Grill. I'm a little worried that you'll be bored." She looked at him. "When did you live there before?"

"We moved there when I was quite young. It was after we came to what is now America, before we were immortal. Of course we traveled and such, but in the early 1800's we did go back and build an estate there. Once Mikael found us, we left to come to New Orleans. We spent quite a bit of time there."

"Are we going to live in the house?"

"Well I suspect that it is badly in need of repairs, but yes, we can. It is a beautiful house."

"I have to get up and call my mom. I want to go shopping before we leave." She jumped out of bed suddenly full of tons of energy and lists. He lay there and smiled at her rushing around at vamp speed taking a shower and getting dressed. "What are you doing? Get ready."

His eyes widened. "Yes whatever you say love." He couldn't ever recall being so happy.

They spent the day shopping and eating lunch. Of course when Caroline got back to the house, she spent the entire day packing and planning for both of them. She had lists and itinerary's. Klaus just watched her silently as she prepared for her "normal life" with him. He did hope it lasted for a little while at least.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Here is the finale with an opening. I do want to do another story though and I want to finish Witch Light. Hope you enjoy. It's been a fun series. This is a light-hearted chapter with lemons.**

 _I do not own the Vampire Diaries or Originals Characters. I own the story. ****Note: This story contains themes of an adult nature, including and not limited to rape, murder, kidnapping, domination, submission and more. If you are uncomfortable with themes of this nature, please do not read. This is part 3 of a series following 'The Dead of Winter' and 'The Blood Rose'. This story may cause triggers and is rated M for intense sexual situations, death, domination and more.*****_

 **Chapter 12**

"Well love, are you ready to go?" Klaus looked at the beautiful blonde who had managed to expand their luggage by three suitcases.

"Yes! Mom can't wait to see us." She leaned in and her smile was contagious. They bid farewell to Marcel, Rebekah, Bonnie, and Kol. Caroline was somewhat sad to leave New Orleans, despite the fact that their time there had been very chaotic, it was a beautiful city. She smiled as they wound through the streets, Klaus clutching her hand and staring ahead towards the future.

As they pulled into the airport, Caroline saw the plane waiting on the tarmac for them. She couldn't get to the plane fast enough. She was so excited to get back and spend time with her mom and see her friends.

A couple hours later, they touched down. She looked lovingly at Klaus, he could see how excited she was. He made the decision right then to restore the mansion so they would always be able to return and spend time there. "Should I be nervous? After all, your mom is the sheriff."

"Okay so my mom is just protective, but I think she'll like you." She turned to get out of the car. "As long as she doesn't know that you are a hybrid..." she turned and paused "or that you have killed people…" turning to look over her shoulder once again, "or anything else that might be illegal or immoral." He leaned in and kissed her deeply.

A few hours later, they walked up the little walk to the front door. Caroline threw the front door open and yelled…"Mom. We're here." Klaus smiled as he stood there watching the woman come around the corner.

"Sweetheart. I'm so glad you're here! I was so worried when you left. I know you called this time but still. Please tell me you are staying for awhile."

"Well actually Ms. Forbes, I have a family estate that I'm going to restore. So we can stay as long as Caroline would like." Caroline beamed at that statement.

"Mom, this is Klaus Mikealson."

"Nice to meet you Klaus. Please come in." As Klaus walked through the door, he had the sense that everything was about to change. However, for now he was going to give Caroline normal.


End file.
